Phone safetyFor everyone5 min read

What to do if your phone is lost or stolen

Lost your phone in India? Lock it, block the SIM, file a police complaint, then block the IMEI on Sanchar Saathi and protect your UPI, bank and other accounts.

In short

Locate or lock the phone with Find Hub or Find My, block the SIM, and alert your bank straight away.
File a police complaint, get a duplicate SIM, then block the IMEI on Sanchar Saathi.
Keep the request ID you're given. You'll need it to unblock the phone if you get it back.

01Do these first

01
Call it, then look for it
Ring your number from another phone. If no one helpful answers, open Find Hub (formerly Find My Device) at google.com/android/find for an Android phone, or Find My at iCloud.com/find for an iPhone.
02
Mark it as lost
Both services can lock the phone and put a message on its lock screen. If you think it was stolen, Apple advises leaving your contact details off that message.
03
Block the SIM
Call your operator from another phone and ask them to block the SIM, so no one can use your number or receive your OTPs.
04
Protect your money
Call your bank to block mobile banking and UPI on that number, and do the same for any wallet apps. If money has already gone, call the national cyber fraud helpline 1930 or report it at cybercrime.gov.in straight away.

02Police complaint and duplicate SIM

You need both before you can block the phone online. Report it at the police station where it happened, or on your state police's website if it takes complaints online. A theft is normally registered as an FIR; a lost phone may get a lost report instead. Keep a copy and the complaint number.

Keep these ready

Both IMEI numbers, from the box or the bill
The phone's brand and model
Where and when you lost it
A copy of the police complaint and its number
ID proof. If you use Aadhaar on the Sanchar Saathi form, it asks for a masked Aadhaar that shows only the last 4 digits.

Then visit your operator's store with your ID and ask for a replacement SIM on the same number. The blocking form sends a one-time code to this number, so the new SIM has to be working first.

03Block the phone on Sanchar Saathi

Blocking stops the phone from working on any Indian mobile network. If someone puts a SIM in it, the system lets the police trace it.

01
Open the blocking form
On the Sanchar Saathi website, sancharsaathi.gov.in, or in its app, choose the option to block a lost or stolen mobile handset. This is the CEIR service.
02
Enter the phone's details
Your mobile number, IMEI 1 (and IMEI 2 on a dual-SIM phone), brand and model. You can upload the invoice if you have it.
03
Add the loss details
Where and when it happened, the state, district and police station, the complaint number, and a copy of the complaint.
04
Add your own details
Your name, address and ID proof. Then verify with the one-time code sent to your number.
05
Save your request ID
You'll get an 18-digit request ID. Use it to check the status of your request, and to unblock the phone later. If you lose it, the site has a Forgot request ID option.

What if the phone was new and never had a SIM in it?

The online form needs a number that was used in the phone, so it won't work. Instead, the Sanchar Saathi site asks you to contact the CEIR district nodal police officer with a copy of the FIR or police complaint showing the IMEI.

Can I follow up on my request?

Yes. The site has an option to check a request's status using the request ID. In some places, such as Delhi, a complaint number from the police portal works there too.

04Lock down your accounts

Change your Google or Apple Account password from another device, after you've used Find Hub or Find My. Google signs you out of most devices when the password changes.
On an iPhone, don't remove the phone from Find My. Apple warns that doing so removes Activation Lock, which makes the phone easier to wipe and resell.
Change the passwords for email, social media and shopping apps that were signed in on the phone.
Set up WhatsApp on a new phone with your replacement SIM. Re-registering your number logs WhatsApp out on every other device.

05If you get it back

01
Check it's yours
Dial *#06# and match the IMEI with your box or bill.
02
Unblock it on Sanchar Saathi
Choose the option to unblock a found mobile handset. You'll need the request ID, the mobile number you gave when blocking, and your police complaint details.
03
Clear lost mode
Enter your passcode or PIN on the phone to get past the lost-mode screen.
04
Check your accounts
If it was out of your hands for a while, check which devices are signed in to your accounts.

06At the shop counter

If you're replacing it with a used phone, check its IMEI with KYM before you pay. Keep the new phone's box and bill safe: they hold the IMEI you'd need if this ever happens again.

Recashy partner shops record the IMEI of every phone they buy, along with the seller's OTP-verified mobile number, and are warned if the same IMEI was recorded before at their shop or another Recashy shop.