The loss or theft of an iPhone is always a big problem, since the mobile contains a huge amount of personal information and all kinds of passwords, including those for payment systems. In addition, the presence of potentially defamatory information may expose the user to blackmail, and the presence of work-related data in the device's memory may result in dismissal.
There are a huge variety of ways to find a lost iPhone, both official and third-party. Let's figure out which one is right for you.
Obvious actions that are forgotten
First of all, we will look at the standard measures that should be taken if you lose absolutely any phone, not just from Apple.
- Call your mobile. If the device fell somewhere nearby or is even in your home, but where you were not looking for it, then thanks to the call you will be able to quickly locate the phone. If he is lost on the street, then a passerby can pick him up, and the further development of events depends only on his moral qualities. However, most people make contact, either realizing that they will find the phone anyway, or guided by a banal desire to help. If you do not have a device from which you can make a call, then you can find services for online calls on the Internet.
- Change the password on your accounts. If you cannot remotely lock your device because you have not activated this function previously, we recommend that you change the passwords for all accounts logged into your phone as soon as possible.
- If you are afraid of embezzling funds from your account, you can visit your operator’s mobile communications office and ask to block your SIM card. But this is a very controversial measure: on the one hand, blocking will prevent the loss of funds in your account, but it will deprive you of the opportunity to contact the person who found the phone, and will also disable Internet access, which will not allow you to find the smartphone through Find My Phone. If you resort to it, then only if information about new expenses appears in the operator’s Personal Account.
Apple ID verification fraud
Cases of “verifying” Apple ID from your device have become more frequent. It looks like this: a stranger asks for help and tells you to enter your username and password on your iPhone to check the functionality of the functions. At first glance, it seems that you can trust this person, because no one will ever share your login and password information without any need. In fact, it turns out that the account is empty, there is nothing on it: no contacts, no photos, and the shell with applications is not touched. Often, thieves do not have Apple products at all, and all actions take place through the iCloud desktop site.
Often, attackers live on Apple-themed forums and ingratiate themselves with the user by asking his opinion and talking about his experience of use. And after a couple of days they come up with different stories: from “I’ve been using Android for a long time, and now I’m switching to Apple to check my old account”, “I can’t log in, but the name of an important medicine is in Notes” to “Bluetooth/Wi doesn’t work on my iPhone -Fi/geolocation, check on your device.” The essence of this fraud remains the same: to remotely block your iPhone and then demand several thousand rubles. This is iPhone theft in the truest sense of the word. After such actions, the scammer on the other side of the screen will make it seem like the user stole the gadget from him, and not vice versa. You will not be able to try to log out of the ill-fated account and enter your Apple ID data, because the phone has been marked by criminals as stolen. That is, in a nutshell, the device will turn into a “brick” until it is unlocked by a fraudster.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of such cases, and the police resources are not enough to investigate every small case. There is no way out of this situation yet: you should hope for the carelessness of the thieves and believe that they did not have time to change their own Apple ID password. Then try disabling Lost Mode and change the passcode. To avoid getting into such a situation, you should not respond to this kind of messages from strangers online and help only your loved ones and relatives.
How to find an iPhone from a computer via iCloud - use Find My Phone
If you have activated this function on your phone in advance, then searching for the gadget will be much easier. It is better to enable FMP immediately after purchasing a new iPhone, so that at a critical moment you are not left without the main search tool.
Find My Phone is activated as follows:
- Go to Settings, select iCloud.
- Scroll down to find the toggle next to Find My iPhone and slide it to the active position.
- Next, you need to return to the main settings menu and go to the following path: Privacy - Location Services - Find iPhone. Having opened the latter, you will see a slider that needs to be switched to the active position.
Now let’s get straight to how to find an iPhone from a computer via iCloud.
- Go to icloud.com.
- Log in by entering your AppleID and password.
- From the menu, select the Find My iPhone icon.
- A green dot will be visible on the map that opens; this is the location of your phone. If you have several Apple gadgets, then when you click “All devices” you can select exactly the one that was lost.
By clicking on the name of the desired device, you will have access to information about the battery level, and will also be able to use the three main functions of the smartphone:
- Play sound. Used to search for a device located in close proximity.
- Lost mode. Using this mode, you can set an additional password on the device and indicate your contact phone number so that a passerby who finds the phone will be able to contact you. In addition to the contact number, you can leave a message for the person who found the device. This could be your address, for example, or the amount of the reward - together with the number, they will be displayed on the screen of the locked phone. Lost mode is turned off in the same menu where it was turned on.
- Erase all data from iPhone. As the name implies, this function allows you to delete all information from the device’s memory. It is recommended to use it in cases where you have a system backup, or when the risks associated with hackers obtaining information are too great.
Third Party Applications
If for some reason you need an analog detective for a lost or stolen smartphone, then here are several utilities that will help in an emergency. In the description below they have a short overview and their main functionality. Note: These apps must be pre-installed on your smartphone via the App Store.
Contact If Found
“Contact if found” allows you to put a screen saver on your lost device with contacts to contact the owner. In fact, it is no different from the standard function on iOS. The program is provided free of charge and is available for gadgets running iOS 9 and older.
iHound
A very useful application that tracks the location of an iPhone. To find a lost gadget and find out exactly where the last interactions with the device took place, scammers just need to connect the device to a computer. After a few seconds, the owner will receive a notification with the latest location. The utility updates the data every hour, sending geodata to the owner.
Reward If Found
It is very similar to the first application in the list - it can be used to generate a message asking the finder to return the device. And in the message, indicate any contact information. This is unlikely to save you from theft, but if a conscientious person finds the device, he will return it to its rightful owner.
iLocalis
A lost device on Jailbreak is another problem. It costs nothing to reflash the device, and even more so to reset the data. However, a hacked gadget has less value than the original one, so getting the device back increases significantly. Since Jailbreak does not have an App Store, but has an analogue store in the form of Cydia, this program is ideal. It works like this: when the fraudster removes the SIM from the slot, the application instantly recognizes this and sends the necessary information.
How to find iPhone if it's turned off
If the smartphone was turned off or simply discharged, it is not possible to track the current location of the phone, however, iCloud remembers and shows on the map the last place where the iPhone was before it turned off. But there are some restrictions:
- Support for the function appeared with iOS 8 and higher;
- It is only available on devices released after the iPhone 4.
In addition, this function must first be enabled in the settings:
- Go to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone.
- Switch the Send Last Location slider to active.
How to find an iPhone through another iPhone
On iOS there is a Find My Freinds mobile application, the main task of which is to help friends find each other, but in practice it does a pretty good job of finding lost smartphones.
How to find an iPhone through another iPhone:
- Install the application.
- Log in.
- Click on the Add icon (plus sign).
- Enter the requested information about your friend's device.
- Wait for permission from your friend (he must also have this application installed).
Thus, by installing this application, you can always find your device through another iPhone. So we recommend that you worry about this in advance.
Find iPhone by IMEI
If the previous methods did not work for you, then there is another option - searching by IMEI (this is a unique identification number for each phone, consisting of fifteen characters). IMEI will allow you to find your device using GPS, even if data transfer or geolocation have been enabled.
IMEI can be found either from the device documentation or by typing the USSD command *#06#. You need to contact the police with the IMEI number, but first it would be better to try using the service for finding lost gadgets - we recommend TrackerPlus or its analogues.
iPhone search programs
If official methods of searching for a device do not bring the desired result, you can try using third-party programs to search for an iPhone.
- iHound. This software not only periodically records information about the movements of the smartphone, but also has the function of sending the exact location of the device when it is connected to a computer. Thus, you can easily track the house of the unscrupulous person who found the phone, or the address of the point where stolen phones are taken.
- iLocalis. The program has richer functionality, but requires JailBreak to install it. If you have it, then you can, for example, find out the number of the new SIM card installed in the phone, and much more.
To summarize, the most effective way to search is the basic Find My Phone function. It is mandatory to activate it in a new gadget, since neither contacting the police nor trying to find out the necessary information from the operator, unfortunately, usually does not yield results in our realities.
Alternative
If the Find My iPhone feature has not been activated on your device, the only thing you can do is remove the old Apple ID password and set a new one. This will ensure that access to data stored in iCloud is blocked (contacts, photos, etc.). It would be a good idea to change the passwords for your other accounts (social networks, mailbox, paid applications). File a police report (better write that the gadget is stolen), notify the mobile operator and mark it in your profile at https://supportprofile.apple.com/ about the loss.
