Your Cell Phone is Stolen or Lost - Now What?
What's the worst that can happen if your cell phone is ever lost or stolen? You'll notify your service provider and pay only those charges made before the reported loss, right? Wrong. Your cell phone may contain some of your most personal information, so if you don't know the whereabouts of your phone, you could become a victim of identity theft. At the very least, as the subscriber, you may be responsible for charges incurred in the usage of your mobile service until your service provider suspends/disconnects all services. Depending on what information you have on your phone, a crook could also wipe out your checking or savings account.
To help protect yourself against identity theft and financial loss, we recommend you take the following steps immediately after recognizing that your cell phone has been lost or stolen:
- Contact your cell phone service provider as soon as you discover the loss and report your missing/stolen device. Be sure to keep records of the date and time you called your service provider, the name of the person to whom you spoke, and the instructions you were given. Be sure to ask for a confirmation number to reference the call as well as written confirmation that your device has been disabled.
- File a police report. While this action may not be effective in the recovery of your cell phone, it will provide an official record of the missing/stolen cell phone. Keep the police incident number for your records. You should contact your service provider and provide them with this number.
- If you are being held financially responsible for fraudulent charges made after you reported your device missing/stolen to your service provider, request an investigation. If you do not get a timely response or cooperation from your service provider, let them know you're an informed customer by telling them you're going to file a complaint against them with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), your state Attorney General's office, and your state's Public Utility Commission (PUC). Knowing that you're going to file often increases the likelihood of your provider being a bit more cooperative. Be sure, of course, to actually file those reports. Please note: the FCC will forward your complaint to your service provider, requiring a response from them within a month.
Tips on Securing Your Cell Phone:
- Set a password to unlock your phone to prevent a thief from making unauthorized calls. (Check the user guide that comes with your phone to do this.) There are ways to get around passwords, but you will probably be buying yourself some time until you realize the loss of your cell phone and contact your cell phone provider.
- Don't keep personal information on your cell phone. This includes PINs, account numbers, and their associated business phone numbers. Don't assume you are smarter than the average crook by hiding/coding this information in your address book. Thieves have all the time in the world to review every number and text message as well as unscramble codes or decode information/clues you felt were safe.
- Avoid using accurate nicknames with the numbers in your address book - home, hubby, wife, sweetheart, for example. It identifies those who are close to you, and when a cell phone and wallet are stolen together - which happens in a large number of cases - thieves have information they can use to get into your bank or credit union account. They simply pose as you and send text messages to partners asking for a forgotten PIN.
Be proactive and follow the tips above to help safeguard your identity and prevent a financial loss. If you end up in the situation where your phone is lost or stolen, you'll be prepared to react quickly!
For more information on how fraudsters can use your personal information, visit psecu.com/security Center or ftc.gov.