The unthinkable has happened. Maybe you were having too much fun at a concert, careless near a body of water, or oblivious when it slipped out of your pocket.
Or, maybe you have less hope that a Good Samaritan will return what you’ve lost. Someone stole your iPhone — now what?
Regardless, you are now without a phone and nervous about all the information left on your phone.
What Should I Do If My Phone Was Stolen?
1. Ensure That It Is Truly Lost.
Go through all the expected motions of retracing your steps, calling your phone, and checking your phone’s location using tracking apps. If you can’t find it and suspect it was stolen, continue to the next steps.
2. File A Police Report.
Do not confront the thief yourself if you know who it is. Have the police handle the matter and document the theft.
3. Call Your Cellular Provider.
Prevent the thief from costing you additional money by excessively calling, texting, or using data. Suspend your service.
4. Change All Passwords.
Change all the passwords that are associated with accounts on your device. This includes your email, bank accounts, and more. This way, if a hacker manages to get into your device, they cannot log into the accounts you logged into using that device.
5. Remotely Delete Your Data
This is one of the most important steps to protecting your data and information.
Can someone delete messages from my phone remotely? Yes. It is also possible to remotely delete text messages on an Android Phone as well.
How To Remotely Delete Just Your iMessages
If you just want to delete your iMessages, it is possible. However, you need to have Messages in iCloud turned on on both the iPhone you want to delete the message from and the device you are attempting to delete it from.
Therefore, if Messages in iCloud is on for both your lost device and the Apple device you still have (such as your Macbook or iPad), this is possible.
However, if you did not have this toggled on your lost device, it is difficult just to wipe your iMessages.
How To Remotely Delete Everything In Your Phone
If you want to delete everything on your phone remotely, that is called a remote wipe. Remote wipe is the ability to remove all data from a device remotely. You do not need physical access to the device to wipe all the data.
How To Remote Wipe An iOS Device
- Log into Apple’s Find My App.
- In the Devices list, select the device you want to erase. Then, click the info button on the map.
- Click Erase This Device.
- Click Continue, then do one of the following:
- For a Mac, you must create a numeric password. This password serves a different purpose than the one you already have on your Mac. This password marks your device as lost or that you want to erase it.
- For an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch, enter the passcode of the device you’re erasing.
- Enter a phone number or message if you want to indicate that the device will be erased and how to contact you. The number and message appear on the device’s Lock screen.
- Click Erase. Enter your Apple ID password or your family member’s Apple ID password, then click Erase again.
If your device is offline, the remote erase begins the next time it connects to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.
Resetting to factory settings is also possible. However, it is better to leave a phone number or message to indicate that the device will be erased and how to contact you.
Protect Your Data A Step Further
Cyber attacks have become increasingly sophisticated, and personal cybersecurity is no longer optional. With all the sensitive data your devices store, you should also use personal cybersecurity to protect yourself and your devices.
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