Apps to Track Down a Lost or Stolen Phone

 

Smartphones have become an essential part of our everyday lives. Not only because it’s a collection of apps, photos, messages, and contacts that make up his or her digital life, but it’s also a large chunk of money… anywhere from $200 – $1200!

Because of this, losing a phone can be an awfully traumatic experience. You’re forced to start over from scratch and invest another portion of your savings into something that might just be lost or stolen a few months from now.

However, there is a way to fight back against lost or stolen phones, and it all starts with a phone-finding, anti-theft application. Here are a few to get you headed in the right direction.

 

Prey

With Prey, a stolen or lost phone has the potential to be recovered. This phone-finding, anti-theft application gives you the ability to take photos and lock your device remotely. This means that hypothetically you could take a photo of the thief with your phone’s camera and then keep them out of your phone and away from your data with remote locking.

Prey also allows you to wipe your data remotely (if it comes to that) and retrieve data stuck on your phone, like messages and call logs. Receive the location of your phone, determine if there are any Wi-Fi hotspots nearby, and take screenshots of what the thief is doing on your phone.

 

Avast Anti-Theft

Avast has a lot of the same capabilities as Prey. You can remotely lock your phone and wipe its data. You can receive screenshots, retrieve data, and learn about the surrounding Wi-Fi. One interesting feature Avast has, though, that Prey does not is that you can activate a loud siren. And the siren will only get louder if the thief tries to turn it down.

Another interesting feature is its SIM-Card-Change Notification. If the thief slips a new SIM Card into your phone, you’ll receive a message with the phone’s new number and location.

 

Lookout

Lookout is also very similar to Avast and Prey. It has the same basic phone-finding, anti-theft features that the two previous applications encompass. However, Lookout differs because it incorporates features such as Identity Monitoring and Threat Protection. So, not only will the app help protect you from identity theft, but it will also work to protect your device from known cyber threats.

And to keep things even more safe and secure for you, Lookout will send you reports on recent data breaches and backup your mobile data in the process.

 

Cerberus

Cerberus is slightly more intense than the other apps previously mentioned. In fact, a film student based in Amsterdam recently used this app to create a documentary on where stolen phones go. With this app, he was able to set up custom alerts, listen to phone conversations, turn on the camera, read messages, and track the phone’s location. Cerberus will also backup your data and give you the option to remotely lock your device, wipe its contents, and retrieve data.

Interested in learning more about keeping your mobile devices safe and secured? Give us a call today!

Our I.T. experts would be happy to answer any questions you may have.