Protect the person.
Then the accounts.

THE ORIGINAL LONDON CONTEXT

A dated theft figure, not today’s live count.

The scale was illustrated by BBC reporting and London City Hall’s 2023 statement about roughly 90,000 phones stolen in London during 2022. The statement connected theft to the resale market and called for action by the mobile industry.

Keep those figures attached to London, the reporting period, and the source. They do not establish a current national theft rate or the chance that a particular stolen phone will be recovered.

The lasting business issue is the concentration of access on a portable device. A person may need their phone to authenticate the very account required to recover from its loss. Identify that circular dependency in advance.

BEFORE A LOSS

Make recovery possible without the handset.

• Enable the manufacturer’s supported device-location and protection features and check how to use them from another device.
• Use a strong device lock, protect the account behind it, and review sensitive information shown on the lock screen.
• Keep the IMEI, serial number, provider details, and necessary recovery information somewhere other than only on the phone.
• Maintain suitable backups and a protected alternative recovery route for important accounts.

For work devices, agree who must be contacted and who may lock, remove business access, or erase information. Consider travel, out-of-hours contact, and a member of staff who has lost both the phone and access to the usual support channel.

A SIM PIN, a handset passcode, and a provider’s account-security arrangement protect different things. Use the supported options for the actual product and network; do not assume one setting protects every form of account takeover.

AFTER A THEFT

Separate the device, the number, and the accounts.

Apple’s current theft guidance starts with marking the device as lost and warns against removing it from Find My, because that removes Activation Lock. If remote erasure is needed, follow its instructions; a stolen-device “found” message should not persuade you to reveal passcodes or remove protection.

For Android, use Google’s current lost-device guidance for the supported actions and their limitations. Availability depends on the device and settings. Remote erasure can affect later location options, so understand the product-specific consequence before acting.

ACCOUNT RECOVERY

Review access as well as passwords.

Using trusted services and support routes, check important accounts for unauthorised changes or sessions. Prioritise email, financial access, the device account, and business systems. Replace compromised credentials and recovery information where needed.

Do not assume a password change automatically ends every session or removes an attacker’s alternative access. Follow the service’s recovery process and involve the employer or provider where the account is managed.

Warn relevant contacts if there is a risk of messages being sent in your name. Keep the message factual and avoid circulating sensitive account or recovery details.

MAKE PREVENTION ROUTINE

Reduce the opportunity and rehearse one loss.

The Mobile UK advice combines attention to surroundings with device security and provider reporting. Keep the handset out of unnecessary public view and avoid leaving it unattended.

Try a controlled recovery walkthrough without deleting a real device: can someone find the instructions, reach support, and regain essential access if the phone is unavailable? Fix the first point where the plan depends on information stored only on the missing handset.