What to do after your phone is stolen
Unfortunately, cell phone theft is entirely out of control. Phone theft victims must take several measures after being robbed to ensure they don’t suffer severe financial damages beyond the value of their devices.
While smartphones are expensive enough as they are, it is often the wealth of information we store on these devices that makes them substantially more valuable to criminals. Organised syndicates focus on extracting banking or payment information from the device, which could see them scoring thousands of rands more than they could pocket from simply fencing your phone.
Six steps to prevent further financial damage after a phone theft:
1. Notify Your Bank Immediately:
Borrow a phone and contact your banks immediately so they can deactivate banking apps, block cards on other apps containing other bank card details and block your bank account.
2. Block Your Stolen SIM:
Phone thieves can potentially access your phone’s data and have your SIM card and control over its associated number. In some instances, this might make it possible to reset your passwords or regain access to a locked account by requesting one-time PINs that are delivered via SMS.
3. Blacklist The Stolen Device:
While you are in contact with your mobile network, you can ask that the device be blacklisted. This should make it more difficult for criminals to connect to any cellular network in South Africa to access your apps or make transactions.
4. Change Your Banking and Email Passwords:
Updating your banking and email passwords with a lengthy and sophisticated combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols makes it even more difficult for criminals to get into your account. It is critical not to use a password that could be deduced from any information stored on your cell phone. By keeping the criminals out of your emails, you further reduce their ability to gain access to your acounts via recovery or reset processes meant for legitimate users.
5. Wipe The Device Remotely (or log out of your accounts):
This option will depend on your device and whether you had the feature turned on when the phone was stolen. iOS and Android include a feature that can remotely wipe phones, provided they are connected to the Internet and you can access your Google or Apple account on another device. This can be done through an Apple, Google, or Samsung account, allowing you to lock a device or view its location remotely. If you did not enable this feature, then you will still be able to log your device out of certain accounts that use online services, including Google.
6. Report The Incident To The Police:
Report the theft to a police station. This will provide important information to detectives, potentially linking your case with active syndicates and tracking down your device.
Emergency Contact Information:
Keep a list of emergency contacts handy, including the local police department 011 722 4200, 24/7-Armed Response - 011 444 2237 and The Parkmore Community Association (PCA) who can assist in case of an emergency.
THE PARKMORE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION (PCA) - WORKING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER, SAFER PARKMORE:
Suburb Manager - Lori Klein: manager@parkmore.org.za | 081 777 0477
PCA Membership - Coll Evans: members@parkmore.org.za | 082 896 3547
PCA Financial Administrator: Kim Le Roux: assistant@parkmore.org.za
24/7 SECURITY:
011 444 2237 | info@24-7security.co.za