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Losing or having your phone stolen is a very scary situation. Not only have you lost your hard-earned device, but also all the years of important data and files stored on it. While the chances of recovering such a device are slim, especially in a jam-packed location, you can actually track your device using a government-launched website and remotely lock it without further harming your data stored on the device. Similarly, phone manufacturers are also pre-loading their devices with software and tools to locate a lost or stolen phone in a few simple steps. In this guide, we will walk you through the entire process of filing a request to find your misplaced mobile phone, so without further ado, let’s get started.
What is an IMEI number and how can it be used to track a phone?
IMEI stands for “International Mobile Equipment Identity”, a unique 15-digit number that acts as your device’s certificate. It is printed on the mobile phone box as well as on the software. The most important thing is that the police can use this number to trace your lost or misplaced cell phone. The relevant authorities have tracers to track any authentic IMEI number in case of criminal activity or wrongdoing with the owner/user of the device.
How to find lost phone using IMEI number online
Although the chances of recovering a lost or stolen phone are slim, with the help of a government portal like the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR), you can block your phone remotely while the concerned authorities investigate the case. But before proceeding with the process, make sure you have the IMEI number of the lost phone ready. This number is usually found on the back or sides of the mobile phone box. With that out of the way, here’s a step-by-step procedure to file a claim for a lost/stolen phone.
- Go from your PC or desktop CIER Website
- After opening the website, you have to fill a long form and provide all the necessary details of the lost phone like phone brand, model, last location etc.
- The portal will also ask you for the phone invoice and you need to upload that as well
- Next, fill in your personal details and once you are done, provide the alternate number and select the ‘Get OTP’ button.
- After you receive the OTP on the given mobile number, press the ‘Submit’ button to complete your lost phone location request
- You will later receive a request ID number which will be used to unblock the IMEI number
Once you complete this process and submit your request, the network operators will be notified to blacklist the specific IMEI number to prevent your phone from being misused. Subsequently, you can also file a request with your network operator to disable the SIM card in your lost or stolen phone. Note that this particular government service is currently only available in Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are other ways to track and find a lost phone?
Blocking an IMEI number is a lengthy process, but totally worth it. However, if you have just misplaced or stolen your phone, you can quickly track it down while the internet is working properly on the device. Both Android phones and iPhones have their own built-in security trackers that help users track down their lost devices. Here’s how.
Find an Android phone using Google Find My Device
Every Android phone has a ‘Find My Device’ feature which can be used to trace the phone via PC or other people’s phones. Here is the step by step process for this.
Find an iPhone using Find My iPhone
Find My iPhone is Apple’s take on finding a lost or stolen iPhone remotely via a PC or desktop. The process of using the feature is as follows.
- Go to Apple’s official Find My iPhone website
- Log in with your Apple ID if you have previously
- Select the device you want to identify
- If your device is found, it will be shown on the map. However, you can select “Notify me when found” to get an email as soon as the device comes online.
2. How to recover important data from lost phone?
Both Android and iOS offer Backups Basic data like contacts, SMS, app data, calendar events etc by default. As long as such data is backed up, you can log into your email accounts on another device and retrieve said data. However, as far as media files are concerned and if you have enabled the backup option specifically for them, there is only an option to get locally stored files.