If your iPhone gets nicked by some scumbag it sucks. Here's how to you ensure you can track it, wipe it and, most importantly, locate it
Chances are the most valuable thing you have on your at all times is your iPhone. Its street value is £500-700 depending on the model and this is why criminals and scumbags like stealing them so much. Given its small size and light weight it’s a popular target for thieves and pickpockets, especially since the device has a very high resale value and can be easily sold anywhere from a random street corner to eBay.
If your iPhone gets nicked you may feel like curling up into a ball and crying, but if you think quickly there’s a good change you can get it back –– if you planned ahead. So let’s look at the anti-theft steps you should take when you get your iPhone and then we’ll look at what you should do if your iPhone gets stolen.
Before your iPhone is stolen:
1. Enable Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone is the anti-theft software made by Apple. It’s a free app that can be downloaded here. Anyone who has an iPhone (or iPad, iPod touch, or Mac; Find My iPhone works on all of them) should download this app right away. With it if your device is ever lost or stolen you can see its location on a map, lock the device remotely, and even choose to wipe it remotely.
With iOS 7 Apple has strengthened the iPhone’s anti-theft software called Find My iPhone. Before iOS 7 the thief could erase your iPhone or turn of the software tracking features at his will, but now Apple requires the iPhone owner’s registered Apple ID and password to be entered before Find My iPhone can be disabled.
But in order for Find My iPhone to work at all it must already be installed on your iPhone – SO DO IT NOW! If it’s not installed on your iPhone, you’re out of luck if it’s stolen.
After your iPhone is stolen:
2. If your iPhone is stolen the first thing to do is find a computer right away and log into iCloud. It doesn’t matter if the computer is a Mac or a PC. It just needs a modern web browser. Go to www.icloud.com and enter your iCloud user name/Apple ID and password. This will be the same iCloud/Apple ID you used in the Find My iPhone app.
3. After you have logged in, find the Find My iPhone button and click it.
4. At the top of the screen you’ll see the label “All Devices”. Click it.
5. From the drop down menu select your stolen iPhone.
6. The iPhone info window will pop up. Here you’ll be able to see how long ago the iPhone last checked in. You’ll also find three buttons below that: Play Sound, Lost Mode, and Erase iPhone.
Play Sound will allow you to activate the iPhone to play a sound. This is only really useful if you lost your iPhone somewhere around the house, not if it’s stolen and in another location.
Clicking Lost Mode will prompt you to enter a phone number where you can be reached. This phone number will then be display on your stolen iPhone’s screen. You can also enter a message that will be shown on your stolen iPhone’s screen. But both of these options are more for lost iPhones rather than stolen ones. It’s not like the thief will be ringing you up to tell you he has your stolen iPhone (unless he wants a ransom). But Lost Mode does one other thing: it automatically locks your iPhone, which means the thief can’t get into it even if you didn’t have a passcode set before it was stolen.
Erase iPhone is a last step nuclear option that should only be used if the information on the stolen iPhone is more valuable than the iPhone itself. If you proceed with Erase iPhone all the iPhone’s content and settings will be erased, which prevents the thief from hacking into the phone to get your info, but then the iPhone will not be able to be tracked or located anymore.
My recommendation is that if you want to see your iPhone again you steer clear of using any of these three options in the iPhone info screen. What to do instead?
7. You’ll notice that the background of the Find My iPhone web app on iCloud.com is a big map with green dots on it. Each green dot represents the location of one of your devices. When you select your iPhone from the drop down devices list the map will automatically center on the green dot that represents your stolen iPhone. This is the location your iPhone is now at.
8. Don’t be a hero. I know, you’re angry some loser stole your phone, but don’t go running off after it like some vigilante just because you now know where it is. The fact of the matter is you don’t know who stole your phone and they could be a lot more dangerous than you think they are. So once you know where you iPhone is, note the address or – even better – take a screenshot of the Find My iPhone page on the web. Then call the cops and give them all the information. It will often be enough evidence they need to show up at the perpetrator’s premises to search for your stolen iPhone.
Removing Cards From Apple Pay
Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both support Apple Pay, and while the service is not yet live in the UK, plenty of our US readers will no doubt already be familiar with the service, which allows you to pay for goods in store using just your iPhone.
Chances are the most valuable thing you have on your at all times is your iPhone. Its street value is £500-700 depending on the model and this is why criminals and scumbags like stealing them so much. Given its small size and light weight it’s a popular target for thieves and pickpockets, especially since the device has a very high resale value and can be easily sold anywhere from a random street corner to eBay.
If your iPhone gets nicked you may feel like curling up into a ball and crying, but if you think quickly there’s a good change you can get it back –– if you planned ahead. So let’s look at the anti-theft steps you should take when you get your iPhone and then we’ll look at what you should do if your iPhone gets stolen.
Before your iPhone is stolen:
1. Enable Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone is the anti-theft software made by Apple. It’s a free app that can be downloaded here. Anyone who has an iPhone (or iPad, iPod touch, or Mac; Find My iPhone works on all of them) should download this app right away. With it if your device is ever lost or stolen you can see its location on a map, lock the device remotely, and even choose to wipe it remotely.
With iOS 7 Apple has strengthened the iPhone’s anti-theft software called Find My iPhone. Before iOS 7 the thief could erase your iPhone or turn of the software tracking features at his will, but now Apple requires the iPhone owner’s registered Apple ID and password to be entered before Find My iPhone can be disabled.
But in order for Find My iPhone to work at all it must already be installed on your iPhone – SO DO IT NOW! If it’s not installed on your iPhone, you’re out of luck if it’s stolen.
After your iPhone is stolen:
2. If your iPhone is stolen the first thing to do is find a computer right away and log into iCloud. It doesn’t matter if the computer is a Mac or a PC. It just needs a modern web browser. Go to www.icloud.com and enter your iCloud user name/Apple ID and password. This will be the same iCloud/Apple ID you used in the Find My iPhone app.
3. After you have logged in, find the Find My iPhone button and click it.
4. At the top of the screen you’ll see the label “All Devices”. Click it.
5. From the drop down menu select your stolen iPhone.
6. The iPhone info window will pop up. Here you’ll be able to see how long ago the iPhone last checked in. You’ll also find three buttons below that: Play Sound, Lost Mode, and Erase iPhone.
Play Sound will allow you to activate the iPhone to play a sound. This is only really useful if you lost your iPhone somewhere around the house, not if it’s stolen and in another location.
Clicking Lost Mode will prompt you to enter a phone number where you can be reached. This phone number will then be display on your stolen iPhone’s screen. You can also enter a message that will be shown on your stolen iPhone’s screen. But both of these options are more for lost iPhones rather than stolen ones. It’s not like the thief will be ringing you up to tell you he has your stolen iPhone (unless he wants a ransom). But Lost Mode does one other thing: it automatically locks your iPhone, which means the thief can’t get into it even if you didn’t have a passcode set before it was stolen.
Erase iPhone is a last step nuclear option that should only be used if the information on the stolen iPhone is more valuable than the iPhone itself. If you proceed with Erase iPhone all the iPhone’s content and settings will be erased, which prevents the thief from hacking into the phone to get your info, but then the iPhone will not be able to be tracked or located anymore.
My recommendation is that if you want to see your iPhone again you steer clear of using any of these three options in the iPhone info screen. What to do instead?
7. You’ll notice that the background of the Find My iPhone web app on iCloud.com is a big map with green dots on it. Each green dot represents the location of one of your devices. When you select your iPhone from the drop down devices list the map will automatically center on the green dot that represents your stolen iPhone. This is the location your iPhone is now at.
8. Don’t be a hero. I know, you’re angry some loser stole your phone, but don’t go running off after it like some vigilante just because you now know where it is. The fact of the matter is you don’t know who stole your phone and they could be a lot more dangerous than you think they are. So once you know where you iPhone is, note the address or – even better – take a screenshot of the Find My iPhone page on the web. Then call the cops and give them all the information. It will often be enough evidence they need to show up at the perpetrator’s premises to search for your stolen iPhone.
Removing Cards From Apple Pay
Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both support Apple Pay, and while the service is not yet live in the UK, plenty of our US readers will no doubt already be familiar with the service, which allows you to pay for goods in store using just your iPhone.
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