Have you ever though what would happen if (Heaven forbid!) your precious iPhone got lost or stolen? I can think of a few friends who would feel immediately devastated and lost themselves following something like that happening, but it pays to know what to do, if luck (or rather the lack of it) strikes you...
The first thing to do in case you lose your iPhone is to use the Find My iPhone feature. Just log on iCloud and proceed from there. If though your iPhone is offline at its current holder`s hands, you will unfortunately have to wait till he or she decides to go online.
iCloud offers you also the option to lock your iPhone and even the gadget to wipe itself out when it finally goes online.If you normally use a passcode to lock your iPhone when it normally resides in your pocket, coat, purse, etc., this could provide some additional security in case you lose it.
Thankfully, following Apple`s lead, Android devices have a similar phone locator feature included with Google`s Android Device Manager and even Windows Phone has a built-in phone locator feature.
An other thing to do is the obvious: try to remember where you were last time when you still had your iPhone and in case you seem to recall that for example you left it in a cab`s rear seat or a rented car, make sure to call the company; you might be lucky after all and be able to retrieve it without further trouble involved.
Failing that, you should call immediately your carrier and report your iPhone`s loss. The carrier will deactivate your precious belonging, so at least you will not have to pay extra for international calls (besides buying a new phone...) if the person who finds it (or a thief for that matter) decides to call his friends in China or, perhaps even more probable, call one of those adult phone-lines!
The next step you should take, is to change all of your passwords. Even if you decide to have your iPhone wiped clean as soon as it hits the internet, it certainly pays to change all of your passwords, just in case...
The final thing to do, is to go and file a Police report. No matter where you are when you lose your iPhone, as in which country you are, Police does need the IMEI Number of your device in order to put it in a stolen/lost phone database, if you stand any chance to retrieve it...
Since most people don`t bother with IMEI Numbers when they don`t need them, you might find out that you have to call your carrier to help you retrieve your phone`s IMEI Number.
All in all, it is always better to prevent something in the first place, so, make sure you keep backups from all of your computing devices, mobile or not, and, please people, keep an eye on your iPhone or other precious gadgets you might carry around with you; that can save you so much trouble it`s not even funny...
