Stealing a mobile phone

Verified 28 February 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If your mobile phone or smartphone is stolen, you must follow several steps: locate and lock your mobile phone, change your passwords, contact your operator immediately to have your line suspended, file a complaint quickly at the police station or in the gendarmerie, contact your insurer if you have taken out insurance to get your device replaced. We present you with the information you need to know.

Step-by-step approach

To protect your confidential data after a theft, you can try to locate and lock your device remotely.

To do this, you can use a location app or built-in tools like "Locate my iPhone" or "Locate my Android device".

Several websites also allow this. To do this, the “location” function of your phone must be activated.

If you locate it, it is recommended to notify the police or gendarmerie and not to act yourself.

FYI  

Most recent telephones allow you to remotely erase the data (photos, SMS...) and disable access to emails and other applications.

If your phone contains apps such as your mailbox, bank account, social networks, it's a good idea to quickly change your passwords in each one.

Your passwords are stored in the memory of these applications. A thief can easily find them and use your confidential applications and data.

Reach your operator

You must report as soon as possible the theft of your phone to your operator to suspend your line (i.e. disable your SIM card to prevent fraudulent use of your phone). The thief will not be able to make any more calls.

You must make this declaration either on your operator's website (from your customer area) or by calling your operator's emergency telephone number.

Before this declaration, the communications made by the thief will be billed to you.

If you find your phone, your line (SIM card) can be reactivated.

IMEI Number

When you call your operator to suspend your line, they must give you the number IMEIIMEI : International Mobile Equipment Identity (15 digits) from your phone. It's his ID.

You will have to give it to the police or gendarmerie. Without this, your phone won't be blocked.

This number can also identify your phone if the police or gendarmerie find it.

If you are insured for the theft of your mobile phone, you must communicate the number to your insurance.

FYI  

you can find your IMEIIMEI : International Mobile Equipment Identity in your customer area on your operator's website (in your account settings).

You must complain as soon as possible at a police station or a gendarmerie brigade.

For that, you have to give them the number IMEIIMEI : International Mobile Equipment Identity of your device (15 digits).

Who shall I contact

The law enforcement authorities take care of sending the request to block the device to your operator.

The operator must block your line within a maximum of 4 days after your declaration.

It is the device itself that will be blocked and not just the line.

Please note

Even if you are traveling abroad, you must go to a police station to file a complaint for theft.

You will be asked to provide as many details as possible about the flight: location, time and description of the thief.

FYI  

if the police find your phone, your line can be reactivated, but you won't be able to use your device if it's already blocked.

If you have a assurance for the theft of your phone, you can use it to replace it.

This can be insurance taken from your operator or that linked to your credit card or travel insurance.

You must contact your insurer within a short time after the flight (48 hours or a few days maximum).

The insurer will ask you for proof of your complaint. You'll have to provide him with the complaint.

Whether a replacement is made depends on the insurance contract signed.

For example, insurance may work only in cases of robbery with violence (an assault) and not because of a pickpocket. You need to ask your operator.

The insurer may ask you for more details before compensating you.

Warning  

Making a false statement (such as claiming a violent assault when it's a pickpocket) to get your phone replaced is a case in pointswindle.

In addition, filing a false complaint with the police or gendarmerie is an offense punishable by 6 months in prison and €7,500 of fine.

Provident advice

You can take proactive measures to minimize the negative consequences of a lost or stolen phone and the risks of fraud (e.g. the use of your personal data).

These actions include:

  • Avoid exposing your phone (example: don't leave it unattended on a coffee table or in front of passers-by in an unlocked car or on public transport)
  • Store the phone in a secure space
  • Secure your phone with a password, facial recognition or fingerprint to limit unauthorized access to your personal information
  • Often back up the data contained in your phone (on a computer, database, external hard drive, etc.)
  • Rate your IMEIIMEI : International Mobile Equipment Identity outside of your phone. You can find it either in your customer area on your operator's website (your account settings), or in your phone's settings, or on its original packaging. You can also get it by tapping on your phone: *#06# and making the call.
  • Verify that the "Location" of your phone is activated (it is in the confidential data of your settings)
  • Download an anti-theft app that can help locate, lock and clear remote your phone data in case of theft.

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