Hey guys,

I got my phone stolen at work after leaving it unattended for about 2 minutes yesterday and was unable to log into my Google accounts or do anything till about several hours after the incident took place – I didn’t know of this Google lock + erase option till I got home about 6 hours after the incident took place.

Because it was an android phone and I had not enabled/activated the tracking option on the phone when I first got it, I could not lock or locate it from my previous knowledge (since later I found out that you could log onto your Google account and lock and erase data if it’s linked to your phone + there’s internet access on the phone.)

What I did once I got off work

(this process varies for everyone depending on services and resources around your area at the time + less of a stressful hassle if you have a tracking option activated already)

• Got my IMEI number handy in case it was required (it would later be recorded down in the police report filed)
• Went to my phone company store and requested for the Sim card to be blocked. You can receive a replacement sim card with the same number in the meantime however the service/new sim will not be active during that time and you cannot make texts or calls as they’ve blocked the old sim to prevent any chances of suspicious activity happening from sim inside the stolen phone.
• Filed the police report.

What I wish I knew in the immediacy of realising that my phone was stolen:

was that there’s a Find your phone option in Google accounts – if you’ve linked your device to that account/ logged in from that account via that device though I think you need internet for Google to be able to lock the phone.

These options best work ideally in the immediacy of you realising that your phone has been stolen. There’s a send a message to the finder option though I feel that that option is kind of naive but then once again jokes on me for being careless and leaving the phone unattended for 2 mins.

Once you erase your device, there’s a high possibility that they will be unable to track your device down so the best option would be to lock or locate it- I’m not sure what happens when the phone is locked or in the process of being located as I was not able to access those options as there was no connection.

Thanks for reading – Hopefully this helps someone out 🙂

Emily