You’ve got tech trouble? I’ve got a solution. We recently received an email from Linda who lives in Hemet, California. She wrote in about her concerns over phone theft and the potential ease with which someone could charge products using a lost or stolen phone’s apps. Here’s what she asked us:If a phone is lost or stolen, can’t they just pull up the app and charge products easily? — Linda in Hemet, CaliforniaThanks for the question, Linda. The short answer is no, not if you have set a passcode on your device and they can’t guess it. Then you did the second most important protection by enabling two-factor authentication or 2FA. If you’ve done these two things, there’s a good shot that they won’t be able to get into your phone at all to get to those apps to charge products. You can also erase everything on your phone remotely and remove it from your Apple or Google accounts. Listen, we know losing a phone can be incredibly stressful for many different reasons. Dealing with all the logistics can be a nightmare, on top of the privacy and security concerns of your information being exposed. Not to mention Linda’s concern over the risk of fraudulent charges through apps. We hope to ease some of your worries with some tips to prevent unauthorized charges on your lost or stolen phone. CLICK TO GET KURT’S FREE CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH SECURITY ALERTS, QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTERTips to prevent unauthorized charges on your lost or stolen phoneUse “Find My” to locate and secure your lost iPhoneThe first thing you should do if you think your iPhone is lost or stolen is access “Find My” to help you locate it. Depending on where it is, you may figure out if you can simply pick it up or if it was actually lost or stolen. How to locate your iPhone using another Apple deviceOn another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can:Open the Find My app and tap the Devices tab to see your iPhone on a mapYou can also tap the name of your iPhone to see it on the map. Once you’ve located it, you can perform the following: Tap Play Sound to make it ring Tap Directions to get directions to its locations You can also get notifications when it is found by toggling on the button next to Notify When Found You can also Mark As Lost by tapping on the blue Activate button below the words Mark As Lost. Follow the onscreen instructions to Mark as Lost, keeping the following in mind: Passcode: If your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch doesn’t have a passcode, you’re asked to create one now. For a Mac, you must create a numerical passcode, even if you already have a password set up on your Mac. This passcode is distinct from your password and is only used when you mark your device as lost. Contact information: For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch, the contact information and message appear on the device’s Lock Screen. For AirPods or iPhone Wallet with MagSafe, the information appears when someone tries to connect with your device. When the device has been marked as lost, you see Activated below the Mark As Lost section. If the device isn’t connected to a network, when you mark it as lost, you see Pending until the device goes online again. Tap Play Sound to make it ringTap Directions to get directions to its locationsYou can also get notifications when it is found by toggling on the button next to Notify When FoundYou can also Mark As Lost by tapping on the blue Activate button below the words Mark As Lost. Follow the onscreen instructions to Mark as Lost, keeping the following in mind: Passcode: If your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch doesn’t have a passcode, you’re asked to create one now. For a Mac, you must create a numerical passcode, even if you already have a password set up on your Mac. This passcode is distinct from your password and is only used when you mark your device as lost. Contact information: For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch, the contact information and message appear on the device’s Lock Screen. For AirPods or iPhone Wallet with MagSafe, the information appears when someone tries to connect with your device. When the device has been marked as lost, you see Activated below the Mark As Lost section. If the device isn’t connected to a network, when you mark it as lost, you see Pending until the device goes online again. Passcode: If your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch doesn’t have a passcode, you’re asked to create one now. For a Mac, you must create a numerical passcode, even if you already have a password set up on your Mac. This passcode is distinct from your password and is only used when you mark your device as lost.Contact information: For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or Apple Watch, the contact information and message appear on the device’s Lock Screen. For AirPods or iPhone Wallet with MagSafe, the information appears when someone tries to connect with your device.When the device has been marked as lost, you see Activated below the Mark As Lost section. If the device isn’t connected to a network, when you mark it as lost, you see Pending until the device goes online again.If you are certain your phone is stolen or stolen and it seems unlikely you will be able to retrieve it, you can remotely erase all data on the device. You can do so by tapping Erase This Device. It will ask you to confirm by clicking Continue – Note: ALL content and settings will be erased when this iPhone connects to the internet. If Find My network is enabled, you will still be able to locate this iPhone.HOW TO FIND YOUR LOST MACBOOK If you are certain your phone is stolen or stolen and it seems unlikely you will be able to retrieve it, you can remotely erase all data on the device. You can do so by tapping Erase This Device. (Kurt Knutsson)How to locate your Android using another Android deviceOn a browser, go to android.com/findSign in to your Google Account. If you have more than one device: At the top of the sidebar, select the lost device. If your lost device has more than one user profile: Sign in with a Google Account that’s on the main or personal profile. If you have more than one device: At the top of the sidebar, select the lost device.If your lost device has more than one user profile: Sign in with a Google Account that’s on the main or personal profile.The lost device gets a notification.On the map, you’ll get info about where the device is. The location is approximate and may not be accurate. If your device can’t be found, you may find its last known location, if available. The location is approximate and may not be accurate.If your device can’t be found, you may find its last known location, if available.If you get a prompt, tap Enable lock & erase.Select what you want to do: Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it’s set to silent or vibrate. Secure device: Locks your device with your PIN or password. If you don’t have a lock, you can set one. To help someone return your device to you, you can add a message or device number to the lock screen. Erase device: Permanently deletes all data on your device but may not delete SD cards. After you erase it, Find My Device won’t work on the device. Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it’s set to silent or vibrate.Secure device: Locks your device with your PIN or password. If you don’t have a lock, you can set one. To help someone return your device to you, you can add a message or device number to the lock screen.Erase device: Permanently deletes all data on your device but may not delete SD cards. After you erase it, Find My Device won’t work on the device. Play sound, secure device, or erase your device. (Kurt Knutsson)HOW TO FIND A LOST WINDOWS LAPTOPRemove the device from any accounts you canAfter you remotely erase the data, you can remove the phone from your accounts. But first, try to find it through icloud.com. I would recommend you keep on…
