I lost my phone yesterday. What all should/Can I do?

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m-jeri

m-jeri

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Hi All.

Lost my phone yesterday, HTC One V around 5 months old. Going to police for complain today, Will get a FIR registered for security purpose and for getting a duplicate SIM.

I changed my GMail, FB, banking pwds. I had em linked to the phone. The phone still contains lots of my personal Data. Like CV, scanned certificates and degree stuff. Visa documents etc.

:( :(

What all should i do? The phone is gone I assume. Things to protect myself, incase someone uses my personal data for any malicious activities. :( :(

Tried calling on the phone. Some guy and a lady picks up says hello and cuts. :(. I was driving my bike, something fell on my leg didnt knew what it was. In 10 secs, I realized and turned my bike and it was gone. Middle of the road. WTF :(

Any help appreciated. BSNL Prepaid connection. So no hope r8?
 
actually ,all i think htc phones can be remote wiped through the htc sync software;but you need to have set it up first. i think most andriods have this feature in the security setting. sounds scary. at the present stage nothing much can be done,i think.
 
m-jeri said:
So no hope r8?
Click to expand...

Actually there is. File an FIR. With the IMEI number of the device, the cyber crime cell should be able to track the device when the person uses it. It might take some time but have some patience and hope. These days, cyber cell has vastly improved and a lot of my friends have got back their cellphones when they lost it.

But yes, please change all the passwords and important access codes if you have it stored on the device.
 
Something fell on your leg while driving?????

Can you explain a bit..

Anyways file a complaint and if put some pressure on them from higher authorities if you/your DAD knows any1 from them.
 
really Cyber Cells dont move their @SS unless you put pressure on them from some higher officials.. The more pressure, no time you will be able to retrieve it back
 
From my personal experiance when I lost my N73m in 2008 in Pune:
A guy pick pocketed from me in a crowded bus. Silly of me:facepalm:.
First is the jurisdiction matter of which police chowky does the spot lies in, becomes real messy in case of a bridge on the boundaries. Some may even demand 'fees'.
The police care the least about finding your phone until and unless you have some GOOD connections in the higher ups.
I even went myself to the commissioner office Cyber cell, all they did was server is down - saheb baher gele- udya ya- and finally aamhi kahi karu shakat nahi (we can't do anything). Even went to Airtel, they said that they deal only with police regarding thefts.

Finally after some sweet talking with the Inspector in charge, I was told the procedure the police follow.
They had these pre printed letters in which they wrote down my and my phone details and sent to every operator in the city via post. They said hope for the best since if the phone goes out of circle they cant do anything.

Till now I haven't heard a thing and I don't expect to.

I the current situation the best you can do is file an FIR, remotely erase the phone immediately if possible, dig up some contacts or old favors people owe and influence the police.
 
Gannu said:
Actually there is. File an FIR. With the IMEI number of the device, the cyber crime cell should be able to track the device when the person uses it. It might take some time but have some patience and hope. These days, cyber cell has vastly improved and a lot of my friends have got back their cellphones when they lost it.

But yes, please change all the passwords and important access codes if you have it stored on the device.
Click to expand...

I asked few of my friends..nowadays.. these guys are not giving FIR :(. They only give the slip for acknowledgment of the complaint. Also my connection is BSNL prepaid... Sooo any hope for that??
@havoknation..

I was driving.. it fell from my pocket to my leg first.. thght it was a stone or stick or something.. :(

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mh09ad5578 said:
actually ,all i think htc phones can be remote wiped through the htc sync software;but you need to have set it up first. i think most andriods have this feature in the security setting. sounds scary. at the present stage nothing much can be done,i think.
Click to expand...

I have done some stuff at the beginning like register it in htcsense.com or something..
 
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Just note down the IMEI number from the box, head to the nearest police station in Mysore and file an FIR. It may work out faster if you/your friends/relatives have some contacts in the police department.

I am not exactly sure is BSNL can be helpful here. Maybe with the cops they may be able to track the device to the nearest tower, I am guessing. I recall a couple of friends had told me that this was more or less the procedure.
 
Regarding sensitive data I'm afraid nothing much can be done now.
What I do is rename the files with sensitive data with a random extension like .exe or .rnd or whatever you like so that it does not open with default application. You don't need these everyday and it'll take a minute to rename the files before using them but you are safe.

I lost a lot of phones (lost more than 6 phones worth more than 50K) so I'm kind of expert :) . I try not to keep sensitive info in the phone but when I do I rename them. What I do is rename the txt or doc files with .jpeg and jpeg files with .txt or doc extension so you know which files are which.
 
@m-jeri: If the phone is ringing the means the person has the SIM active. Try sending a SMS with your name & alternate phone number & request them to call you back.

Reg personal data: right now nothing can be done, other than probably the remote wipe. We can safely assume that most of the time the person who finds the phone would not be interested in the data. They go to a shop & wipe it clean, remove the SIM and sell/use it with a different SIM.

Next time onwards you may consider these options:

Dox on mobiles: Apparently there is no equivalent to TrueCrypt in Android. Only option of protecting personal dox would be to password protect them.

Accounts on the mobile device: I do this: create a dummy Google a/c - import all contacts from regular a/c's. Do not setup the regular mail a/c on the phone, access thru' the browser when needed. I know this defeats the purpose of a "smart"phone but at least a/c's are not exposed. Any document that is needed & personal would remain on Google Drive etc., & would be accessible through the browser.
 
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Google account is not the problem. Whenever you change the SIM you'll have to re-enter the google account password. So you are safe there.
 
Gannu said:
Just note down the IMEI number from the box, head to the nearest police station in Mysore and file an FIR. It may work out faster if you/your friends/relatives have some contacts in the police department.

I am not exactly sure is BSNL can be helpful here. Maybe with the cops they may be able to track the device to the nearest tower, I am guessing. I recall a couple of friends had told me that this was more or less the procedure.
Click to expand...

Just went there with complaint and copy of bill. They have a special book for mobile theft.. :S.... They will only do that. FIR and all they wont do. :(... And a affidavit. They gave me a receipt with seal and all.
@tech.addit.

First experience.. :(.. No not getting expensive phones anymore. This was just 6 months old.. :(.. Bought a sammy galaxy chat today morning ...around 9k from flipkart... would have gone for Nokia Asha.. But...contact list are in Google.. Android can sync and get me the stuff..soo... :(...

My banking..fb logins also i do from it. anyways changed them in 30 minutes of loosing it.. so i guess its ok...
@Jambumali.

Did that yest itself. No use. Today switched off. Yea.. planning to do on similar lines...
 
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m-jeri said:
Just went there with complaint and copy of bill. They have a special book for mobile theft.. :S.... They will only do that. FIR and all they wont do. :(... And a affidavit. They gave me a receipt with seal and all.
tech.addit.

First experience.. :(.. No not getting expensive phones anymore. This was just 6 months old.. :(.. Bought a sammy galaxy chat today morning ...around 9k from flipkart... would have gone for Nokia Asha.. But...contact list are in Google.. Android can sync and get me the stuff..soo... :(...

My banking..fb logins also i do from it. anyways changed them in 30 minutes of loosing it.. so i guess its ok...
Jambumali.

Did that yest itself. No use. Today switched off. Yea.. planning to do on similar lines...
Click to expand...

Force them to open a FIR. Ask to meet up with the Officer in charge. They can't deny it legally. They don't want to open a FIR because that will show as a open case in their record and they will have to send report on it periodically.

But anyway even if they open FIR - nothing happens. I lost my first phone about 8 years ago which was a Reliance CDMA. Those days you can't change the CDMA numbers. I filed a FIR. After a day or two some person answered my stolen phone and he said that he bought it from a person. I told him that it is stolen and there is a FIR. He told that he will return the phone to the seller. I went to police station and asked them to track the phone since it is switched on. But they suggested me "why bother, it is not a very costly phone" !! After several followups I gave up and blocked the phone through Reliance making it useless to anyone.
 
tech.addict said:
Regarding sensitive data I'm afraid nothing much can be done now.
What I do is rename the files with sensitive data with a random extension like .exe or .rnd or whatever you like so that it does not open with default application. You don't need these everyday and it'll take a minute to rename the files before using them but you are safe.

I lost a lot of phones (lost more than 6 phones worth more than 50K) so I'm kind of expert :) . I try not to keep sensitive info in the phone but when I do I rename them. What I do is rename the txt or doc files with .jpeg and jpeg files with .txt or doc extension so you know which files are which.
Click to expand...

You are expert in loosing mobile.
 
Yea, good work in changing password.
Btw, send him a message that if you find this mobile, you will rewarded by cash to return the phone.
Any idea about the htcsense
Does lookout security had anything to do with your problem.
 
^^

I did send a message like that.. about money... no use. Honestly dont know if they understand english properly. Once when they picked up was when my mother called, she told them it was her sons phone and all in english.. just cut the phone. Dunno.

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Anyways not getting anymore expensive phones... yea even 15k was exp for me.. :(.. Actually was planning to get the One X. Thank God I didnt.
 
Hard luck man. I lost only one phone (slipped out of my pocket while traveling by cab) and I felt horrible after that.

You could try SMSing the person who is using the phone saying you will pay them some cash if you get it back and that you have some police contacts etc etc. Its a long shot but it doesn't cost much to try. I know you already bought a new phone but no harm in still trying to get your old phone back.
 
Considering your phone is still on, do you have a active data plan? You can remote install tracking apps and find out the phone's location.
 
m-jeri said:
^^

I did send a message like that.. about money... no use. Honestly dont know if they understand english properly. Once when they picked up was when my mother called, she told them it was her sons phone and all in english.. just cut the phone. Dunno.

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Anyways not getting anymore expensive phones... yea even 15k was exp for me.. :(.. Actually was planning to get the One X. Thank God I didnt.
Click to expand...

If he still didnt change the sim, which seems to be fishy.
 
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