iCrap: What to do When You Lose Your iPhone

Try-it Tuesdays:

First, I'd like to add this disclaimer: this Try-it-Tuesday is actually one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy - losing or having your phone/iPhone stolen. But since I recently had the joy of losing my social network lifeline, I'd thought I'd share a checklist of What to do When You Lose Your iPhone I created after my very sad, sad experience.

If you're anything like me, the most important thing in your life outside of your family, is your iPhone. Ever since it came in to my life around four years ago, I don't know how I was able to get along without it. It's been with me through the birth of both my children, every meal through Italy and Napa and my memories that I will never see again because some a****** swiped my phone while I was watching a hockey game at a big sports arena. Quickly after I had a nervous breakdown, I was able to a hold of myself and begin the process of taking care of business and getting things back on track. 

Now immediately once I figured out I didn't have my phone, I instantly went to these steps and was able to make the best of a really bad experience. 

1. Call/Text Your Phone and Offer a Reward.
Yep, I first called my phone and found out the culprit turned off the phone, so I texted them in hopes they would see the text message offering a reward and a way to get in touch with me. Unfortunately no bait, so I had I had a feeling then I wasn't going to see my phone again, but I held out for hope. 

2. Use "Find my iPhone App"  to find your iPhone. 
I immediately used my hubby's phone to log in to my Apple ID and find my iPhone. It instantly went to work to locate my phone, but since it was off, I couldn't find it at the time. However, I was able to add a message on the screen once it was turned on giving them a number to call me and return the phone. (No such luck and after a few hours, I knew they weren't returning this baby.) 

Another option on the Find my iPhone App was to clear the data on my iPhone and lock it forever. While I thought having a lock screen made it impossible to get on my iPhone, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance it could be hacked and someone can get into your phone. AND being that my phone had been swapped, I was dealing with someone who had no conscience aapparently, so getting rid of my VIS (very important stuff) was absolutely necessary. (Just know once you do this, you can no longer track your phone again.) 

Now remember when I tried to locate the phone it was turned off, so it couldn't find it at the time? There's actually an option to alert you when the phone is turned on and zero in on exactly where the phone was located. (For me, that wasn't a pretty area of town, especially since there's a big "CRIME ALERT" sign sitting in front of the house. Now all I had to do was get me a posse and go get my phone, but that wasn't exactly a safe or good idea.)

3.Suspend Your Phone Service. 
While you may or may not have cleared the data on your phone, AT&T does make it possible to suspend your service (meaning the phone can't be used on the network, but you'll still be charged) until either you locate your phone or get a new one. If you know your phone has been stolen, report it immediately by calling 1-800-331-0500 and have the service deactivated or log on to your AT&T Account. 

4. File a Police Report.
While this didn't do me any good, it is good to document the issue. And depending on your police department you might actually get your phone back when you have located your iPhone with the app. Most of the time you can call the PD to make the report or like in my case, I found the paperwork online and was able to report it while it was fresh. 

Note: To file your report, you'll need your serial number to identify your specific iPhone (if you don't know yours, see below.) 

5. Find Your Serial Number. 
You're responsible for a lot of numbers, so I'm sure your iPhone serial number is not one you have handy. While I do keep all my electronics and their papers, a much easier way to find your serial number on your now-lost phone is to log on to Support My Profile and you can get a list of all the serial numbers associated with your Apple ID. 

6. Realize You Might Not See Your iPhone Again and Get a New One. 
It seemed like a little bit like losing an old friend, I was able to go to the store and get a new iPhone the next day. In 10 minutes I had a new phone up and running. And thankfully, I was able to spend the next few hours reloading apps and getting things back to normal - well almost (except about 1000 photos I hadn't backed up.) I also opted this time to get a warranty plan for $10 a month to replace my phone in the case that I lose it again. 


Of course, here's all the things I should have paid attention to BEFORE I lost the phone. So learn from me and do it right before it happens to you. 

7.  Get your head out of the clouds and set-up iCloud. 
iCloud is a no-nonsense opportunity to have most of the things on your phone backed up to all your devices. (I don't need to tell you why this is important, but you should just do it.) 

8.  Enable Your Auto Lock Screen. 
Another way to secure your goodies on your phone is to add a lock screen. Not only to keep predators off your phone (at least try), but it can help keep your from butt-dialing people or your kids deleting an app. However, this isn't foolproof either, so check out how easy it is to go around your lockscreen.) 

9.  Set Up Your "Find my iPhone App." 
Like iCloud, you must, must, must do this. It could definitely help you if your phone is stolen or if you left it somewhere and need to find it. (Considering it your tracking device for your tracking device.) 

10. Listen to intuition: back up that iPhone and change up those passwords regularly.
Yes, it sucks to remember to plug it up, but you should make the back up process as much as a routine as charging it by syncing it up on your computer. Even though I had my iCloud set up to back up things like contacts and emails, I wasn't able to back up everything on my phone. And while it's a pain in the rear, changing your passwords often is a great way to keep your stuff secure! 

Now, off to get this baby a new cover and try to keep me (and the kids) from destroying this one! 

Got any suggestions?