How do I track my stolen phone

How Do I Track My Stolen Phone?

You can't imagine how frustrating it is to miss your mobile phone. Looking for your mobile phone can be a frustrating experience. Sometimes it’s simply tucked in some place, out of your sight. Yet it is also possible to lose your phone away from home or have it stolen from you. In any case, you can help the situation if you are well prepared for such mishaps beforehand and if you act fast enough. Here are some useful tools  to help you find your lost phone;

Android Device Manager (ADM)

As long as your device is connected to your Google Account, you have internet access, you have location turned on and ADM is set to locate your device before it disappears, then there is still a chance that you can recover it.

ADM  can tell the location of your device by default unless you have disabled this in settings. To locate your lost phone with ADM simply visit android.com/find on your PC, sign into your Google account and select the particular device you are searching for if you have more than one.
Google shows you the approximate location of your device and gives you the option of;

• Making it ring even if your device is set to silence
• Locking it with a PIN password or pattern even if you didn’t have one set before. You can also add a recovery message on the lock screen. For example, you can write “please call this number if you have my device”
• Erasing all the data on your device.

If you do not have access to a PC, you can also download the  “Google Find My Device”  app from Play store on another phone.  Unfortunately, if your phone is turned off, ADM can only tell you the last place your device was seen. You can also use a similar feature on Apple devices to find your iPhone.

IMEI

If your phone was stolen and the thief turned it off or did it a factory reset, it may be impossible to recover your phone through the previous methods already discussed. Your best shot at finding your lost phone is through its IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number and you may need the help of your network operator and the law enforcement agencies to get this done.

You can also track your IMEI number through a database of lost and stolen phone. Computer village launched a unified database for this a few months ago. You can find your IMEI number on your phone pack, behind its battery or simply dial *#06#.

Lookout Mobile Security

This app is available for both Android and iOS. It is very similar to other third-party security app, as it has the same bonus’ features. For iOS users, it offers a custom message for the lock screen. For Android users, it provides an option to take a photo of a person who tried (and failed) to unlock your phone.