Phone stolen? Six things to do right now.
Someone has your phone, your saved sessions, and your SIM. The next thirty minutes are about cutting all three off before they get used. Borrow a phone or sit down at any computer and go in order.
Lock it and mark it as lost
From any browser: icloud.com/find for iPhone, google.com/android/find for Android. Lost Mode locks the screen, kills Apple Pay and Google Wallet cards on the device, and puts a message on the lock screen. Do this before anything else.
Do not go get it yourself
If the map shows your phone sitting at an address, resist the urge. Give the location to the police instead. Phones are replaceable. Confrontations with someone who just robbed you go badly often enough that every police department says the same thing: don't.
Suspend the line and get your IMEI
Call your carrier from another phone. Suspend service so the thief can't receive your texts, and ask them to note the IMEI, the device's serial number, on your account. You'll want that number for the police report, and carriers can blocklist the device so it can't be activated on their network.
Change your email password, then your bank
Do email first, from a computer, and sign out all other sessions. Every other account resets through your inbox, so it's the one that matters most. Then banking apps, then anything with a saved card. If your lock screen was strong this is a precaution. Take it anyway.
File a police report
You can usually do this online in fifteen minutes. Insurance claims need it, some carriers ask for it before they'll blocklist the IMEI, and if your phone surfaces in a stolen-goods case the report is what connects it back to you.
Tell your people
A thief with your phone can read your recent conversations and knows exactly who to target. The "hey, it's me, I'm using a friend's phone, can you send money" text works because it comes with context. A quick message to family and close contacts closes that door.
They got the glass. They shouldn't get your line.
With MobileyMe, your number, contacts, and messages live in an encrypted mirror in the cloud, not just on the stolen device. Sign in from any other phone or tablet and your real number works again, while a remote sign-out cuts the stolen phone off from everything. The thief is left holding hardware, not your life.
Like insurance, it only works if it's in place before the bad day.
Set it up now →Questions people ask
Can a thief use my phone if it's locked?
A strong passcode plus Lost Mode makes the phone itself nearly useless. The bigger risk is the SIM: pop it into another phone and your texts, including login codes, follow it. That's why suspending the line comes so early in the list.
Will insurance cover a stolen phone?
Device insurance and some credit cards and renters policies do, almost always with a police report filed within a couple of days. File it even if you think the phone is gone for good.
What about my photos?
If you had iCloud or Google Photos backup on, your photos are safe in your account and will come down to the replacement. The thief can't reach them through a locked, marked-lost device.