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YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN GET STOLEN OR SNATCHED. HOW TO RESPOND?
ALL ABOUT SMARTPHONE SNATCHING ! HOW TO NOT LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU, HOW TO REACT IF IT DOES & HOW TO MOVE AHEAD IN LIFE ? MOREOVER, WHAT IF THE COPS ACTUALLY SUCCEED IN FINDING YOUR MOBILE PHONE..?
A smartphone or any gadget can be stolen or snatched. Once you have reconciled this fact, it becomes most important to know a lot of relevant things. Like, how to ensure data safety before that happens. How to respond to the challenges arising after that. A must read and must share special on the most horrifying possibility in any individual’s life. And that is, ‘What if your mobile phone goes missing, gets stolen or snatched?’ Read on.
(BY INDIA INPUT RESEARCH TEAM)
The smartphone of an IT professional from Bengaluru was snatched away from him on the road. He recently shared the incident on Social Media. He wrote, that he was travelling in an auto rickshaw, when his mobile phone was snatched by two motorbike borne miscreants who sped and fled away. They had disappeared in one of the bye-lanes, even before the auto rickshaw could put up a show of chasing the bike.
The victim had to waste the crucial hour in convincing the police officials at the nearest police station to register his complaint. The officials seemed both- adamant and hesitant at first to act on his plea. Later, the cops had to give up due to his pleadings and persistence. The first few crucial hours were lost in this exercise.Tthe footage on the CCTV monitors didn’t yield much to follow up, either. There were no hopes left for the smartphone’s recovery.
Though the stolen phone-set appeared to be switched off, the victim, an IT professional himself, didn’t lose his patience. He kept trying to get in touch with his gadget through the applications and software hacks he had already installed in his now stolen mobile phone. A couple of months later, when he was on the verge of losing the last bit of hope, there were signs that the stolen phone was finally switched on. He frantically began the maneuverings only to find to his surprise that, the location of his most dear gadget was showing somewhere in a mall in Dhaka. There were enough indications to suggest that the mobile phone set was connected to some computer terminal and the gadget’s memory was being erased. Who were the snatchers and what was their connection to Bangladesh is something for the Bengaluru cops to work and investigate. The IT professional felt sad. He exclaimed that, the expensive mobile phone set, purchased out of his hard earned money was all set to be sold at some market of stolen goods (‘Chor-market’). Most probably at the price of dirt.
What was his fault? Could he avoid the snatching?
While law enforcing agencies stay put, such innumerable incidents involving the well coordinated street games of phone snatchers, happen daily, in India and abroad. The unsuspecting mobile phone users at busy crowded public places, markets, railway station, public gatherings etc. continue to get the rude shock of their life. And before they can scream, alert other passers by or run behind the miscreants, the miscreants take a turn and disappear.
SMARTPHONES ARE CRUCIAL IN DAILY LIFE.
Haven’t the smartphones taken the most important place in our personal lives?
What is a smartphone for most of us?
A gadget that we can not lead life normally, without.
Isn’t that true? If it goes missing even for a while, your life becomes perturbed. And, the longer the duration, the life turns more miserable. This may happen in case it is stolen or snatched away.
And, it all is somehow rooted to this one aspect. When you buy a mobile phone, what is the first step after unboxing?
Ideally, you should be noting the ownership & identity details of the gadget.
It is advisable to note down the 15 digit IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number or the MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) in your diary and a couple of other places that you may remember. For a two SIM phone set, there are two sets of IMEI numbers. It is also prudent to keep the invoice safe and the delivery box with details printed or stuck on its exterior, intact, along with the manufacturer name, the model name etc. These details would be needed if and when you may want to lodge a complaint at a police station for your missing or stolen phone.
It is easy to find your phone’s unique IMEI or MEID number, by any of the following steps:
Dial *#06# from your phone. The number may pop up on your screen.
On any Android phone: Go to Settings > About Phone. The number can be found on screen there.
On any iPhone: Go to Settings > General > About. Scroll down to find the number. If you don’t find the IMEI/MEID there, it may be etched on the SIM tray / engraved on the back of the phone.
SAFEGUARD THE SMARTPHONE DATA FIRST
But, first things first. Your personal or official data is too precious to be allowed to fall in wrong hands. You must use an extra strong & complex password. An extra strong password is a cryptic combination of letters, numbers and special characters. It is better to keep these changing periodically. You must also use the biometric safeguards in the present day smartphones. There is a setting in some latest android and apple phones, that automatically erases all your data after ten unsuccessful attempts to break in your phone’s safety walls.
One must ensure the safety of the data stored in the mobile phone or in its memory cards. The bank account details, the online transaction details, the credit card details etc. are too vital to be lost to thieves. The smartphone also has your personal data, photos of your family members etc. The list of contacts includes important info such as the numbers, e-mail addresses, website addresses, besides small memory notes like birthdate or anniversary etc. Your phone also may have important pictures, screen shots, videos, in the galley plus, e mail addresses and other entries noted on the note pad. It is assumed that you back it up on your google drive or cloud. Yet, multiple locations for a backup is the most thoughtful way to ensure nothing gets lost. A regular backup at your end is the most crucial step. It can be stored in your home desktop PC, in a hard disk or in a series of pen drives. A monthly update or syncing to the backup is most advisable. Many with crucial responsibilities in corporates, remember to update their backup on every month’s last weekend. If you possess an iPhone, the iCloud and Apple support can take care of your doubts or worries. There are nice offers on cloud backup and storage options.
Remembering or carefully maintaining the record of the sequence or password to open the phone, is a necessary evil.
KEEP THE SMARTPHONE SAFE
Allocating a place to keep your smartphone set at your workplace, work table or even the bed side. Buying mobile phone stands is a useful way to ensure that the chances of misplacing it, are minimized. There are housewives who use carefully chosen mobile phone stands to keep these safe in the kitchen or in their two wheeler or in the car. Never keep them in shirt pockets as the mobile phone tends to drop down & get damaged, the moment you bow or bend down.
It is never advisable to carry these gadgets in the lavatories or washrooms. If the mobile phone gets drenched in water, do not try to switch it on or off. Your priority ought to be to ensure that it safely gets dried off first. Taking it to the nearest authorized repair service is the second best thing.
Downloading and installing the best software or application to locate the phone is a must these days. You are advised to enable ‘Find My Phone’. You also need to keep the GPS location on for some of these. There are a number of anti mobile phone theft software available and services of one of these can be utilized after deciding your needs and consulting your seller or a nearby mobile software expert or an experienced technician.
If your mobile phone is not to be found around and if you think you have misplaced it, calmly trying to recall, will help you more. Panicking is not at all helpful in such situations. During a journey or a car ride, you may prefer to assign one of the side pockets in your trousers for the phone, after ensuring that the phone display or its body doesn’t get affected by the pressure. And after ensuring, that the smartphone wouldn’t easily fall off.
If you’re likely to fall asleep during the trip, just remember the place you want to safely keep the gadget.
SMARTPHONE SNATCHING
While in traffic, please remember that one or more of those phone snatchers could be eyeing your movements. They most likely work in coordination. Their action could be along these lines: One of them may divert your attention and the other may at once pounce on your smartphone. They don’t like to give the victim a moment of a chance. So, it’s safer not to take the phone out, at all.
If you are travelling in an auto rickshaw, it would be much better, to decide against taking it out and holding in your grip. Hold the phone in both hands firmly, if you must. And hold the phone as away from the entry or exit door as possible. Using a hands-free, Bluetooth earphone is a nice idea that keeps your hands actually free for any action or response, whenever needed.
THE MODUS OPERANDI OF THE SMARTPHONE SNATCHERS!
The smartphone snatchers usually work in twos. They prefer to ride two wheelers that have fake number plates or no number plates at all. Some of them have updated to using mud smeared number plates. The numbers or letters on these are very rarely visible.
The snatchers choose a busy street and mostly try to ‘zero in’ on pedestrians busy ‘on a call’. They mostly love to target those pedestrians who are holding the phone on the traffic side and are engaged with the smartphone. As they like to zero in a seemingly ‘lost’ or totally ‘immersed’ person in the ongoing call. They usually choose elderly people and mostly women. They even make one or two round trips to ensure that the pedestrian is alone, is holding the mobile phone lightly, appears to be safely engrossed in the phone call and may not chase them for a long distance. When they decide to go for action, it is usually a swift jerk and the phone is snatched away from behind the victim. The bike speeds away before you realize, scream or run behind them.
If you are in a car or an auto rickshaw in the midst of a traffic congestion and if you must hold the phone to talk or to see the message or check the map, please do it on the opposite side of the window or door. Otherwise, it is highly likely that a sudden, swift intrusion by an alien hand may leave your talk abruptly cut and leave you trying to figure out what exactly did happen. One must be equally careful if the smartphone is kept inside a purse or a bag, as bag snatchers or bag lifters can be on prowl around you.
And most importantly, you should try to spot, read and note down or remember to mug up the vehicle’s number.
RUSH TO LODGE A COMPLAINT
Soon after the incident involving a theft or misplacement, you may choose to call the cops on the phone and alert them while you being at the spot. Chances are they may alert one of their patrolling bike squads near you to chase the miscreants and also those colleagues monitoring the CCTV sources at their end. If calling the Police or their control room number is not possible, it is advisable to rush to the nearest police station. Details like manufacturer, the model name, the invoice, the IMEI numbers etc. are required for filing a complaint or lodging an FIR (First Information report). In case you are not carrying these, you may call home or your office and ask someone for the details including the IMEI number and a copy of the invoice number to be mailed to you or to the police station. You may ask for the e-mail address of the Police station or the phone number.
It is likely, that the officer on duty may show reluctance to register your complaint or filing an FIR. This could be because, he or she may be busy with something more grave and urgent. It is also likely that, they simply don’t want to add to the crime numbers registered in that police station. But, registering it, is mandatory, if you want the phone handed back to you upon recovery. If they insist on not filing by giving a number of reasons, ask them to give it in writing. This new demand will most likely make them withdraw their stand and cooperate. The complaint thus filed, will form the basis of your claim on your phone if it gets found and seized. Keep a copy of the complaint document with you. You may also get a copy attached and saved in your e-mail’s draft folder.
You must also insist they check their CCTV feeds from the area where the incident took place and the footage of that time. They will in most probability, try to locate the offenders in the footage and then trace their further movement. Once identified, the subsequent action involves alerting the cops on the way and put a barricade somewhere to trap and nab them.
It will help, if the cops take you to the monitoring room and show you the related footage. A lot depends on how well you remember the vehicle, the colour, the number and also about the faces of the miscreants and the clothes worn by them.
THINGS TO REMEMBER AFTER THE COMPLAINT IS LODGED
Once the complaint is registered, keep the copy safe and also note down the relevant numbers, that of the police station and the investigating officer etc. It is better to check the progress in your case frequently but not in a nagging or aggressive or demanding way that would offend them. Checking with the Investigating officer once in a month would make him or her search for the status of your phone’s IMEI number and subsequent location from the surveillance section.
Post the theft, you must also report the loss of the SIM to the service provider and ask them to block the SIM card or cards. You will have to buy a new SIM card for your mobile phone number and use it on an alternate device.
You will also be required to change your passwords immediately. For example your banking password, your shopping password, the e mail account password and the passwords for your social media handles will be needed to be changed asap.
If you have insured the mobile phone for loss or theft, it is also the time to claim for it.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR SMARTPHONE POST THEFT
The first thing the snatchers do to your phone is switch it off, to avoid the cops from surveilling their live locations. Most of the stolen phones are often kept switched off and smuggled to mobile phone black market dens in some slum areas or to some discreet locations in the nearby countries, mostly the third world countries. Here, the mobile phone is opened and re-assembled by replacing some parts and mixing some other parts. The exterior is also changed giving the phone’s exterior a new identity. Now, the phone is ready to be sold by the black marketers in the seconds’ markets. These are the places where expensive mobile phone models are usually available at comparatively much cheaper rates and even at daily or weekly or monthly installments. The buyers usually are teenagers, needy youths or women from low income groups.
Another possibility is, the phone stays in your city, it is formatted and the phone memory is re-set to erase your traces. This erases your data, once for all, from the phone memory. The mobile phone is then usually sold off at a cheaper cost to someone needy. Once the phone is switched on, it becomes active and using technology, can be spotted by the surveillance team.
The user of such a stolen phone is arrested and produced before the court of law. Then, as per the court’s directive to return the phone to its legal owner, you receive a call from the current investigating officer. You are asked to visit the police station with your legally valid identity cards and requisite documents to verify your ownership claims.
At the police station, you may be required to apply in writing for the custody of your phone. You may be asked to sign a few papers, mainly receipts of the phone’s possession, after you have read them. You may also be required to sign the police station register and a written commitment to produce the phone in working condition, if and when the investigation or the court procedure requires it. The police officer on duty may also want you to pose before the staff cameraperson for a photo shoot, showing you while accepting the phone set from the officer. This obviously goes in the police records as a testimony to the seized phone going back to its legal owner, that is you.
Once your phone is back in your hands, please do not forget the possibility of any malware or spyware having been installed inside. Hence, it is always advisable to erase or wipe (or format) all the past records and re-set the phone to factory settings. So that, you put all that behind and can resume enjoying the better things in life.
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