Losing your phone can be stressful, especially if it’s stolen. Apple recommends taking immediate action to protect your personal information. If your iPhone has been stolen, put it in Lost Mode as soon as possible. This locks your iPhone with your passcode and prevents anyone from making changes to your Apple Account.
What to Do If Your iPhone Is Stolen
When you enable Lost Mode, you’ll be asked if you want to display a phone number and message on the lock screen. However, if your phone was stolen, it’s best to skip this step. A thief can use your phone number as part of a social engineering scam, calling or texting you while pretending to be Apple Support or claiming your phone has been recovered.
Apple also warns against removing your stolen iPhone from Find My. Doing so removes Activation Lock, the security feature that prevents thieves from erasing and setting up the phone as their own. Without Activation Lock, a stolen iPhone becomes more valuable because it can be resold as a working device instead of being stripped for parts.
If you can’t recover your phone, report the theft to your local police, contact your wireless carrier to suspend service if necessary, and remotely erase the phone. Even after it’s erased, leave it in Find My to keep Activation Lock enabled.
Original reporting: Alabama News Network — read the source article.
