What to Do If Your Phone Is Stolen: Step-by-Step Plan for Android and iPhone

Lock your Android phone with Find Hub

Google’s device-finding service is called Find Hub in English; the Russian and Ukrainian interfaces use local names for it. It turns on automatically when you add a Google Account to the phone.

1. Open the Find Hub app on another Android device, or go to android.com/find in a browser. On someone else’s phone, choose Sign in as guest.
2. Select the stolen phone. The map shows where it is now or, if that’s unknown, its last known location.
3. Tap Mark as lost, then Next, then Mark as lost again.

The phone locks with your PIN, pattern, or password, and access to notifications, widgets, and quick actions is turned off. On Android 17 with a fingerprint sensor or Face Unlock, you can also require biometrics to unlock it. The command goes through if the phone is on and connected to the internet.

If you don’t have your Google password at hand, go to android.com/lock: there you lock the screen with your phone number, the answer to your security question (if you set one), and a reCAPTCHA check. This works if Remote Lock was turned on in advance, the phone has an active SIM card, and the number is verified. If the phone is offline, the screen locks once it connects to the internet. You can lock a phone remotely twice in 24 hours.

Samsung Galaxy phones also have their own service, Samsung Find (plus SmartThings Find). It lets you lock the phone with a separate PIN, erase it, get its location every 15 minutes, and turn on Maximum power saving mode so the battery lasts longer. The phone must be signed in to a Samsung account.

Result: The stolen Android phone’s screen is locked, and notifications and quick actions are off.

Turn on Lost Mode on your iPhone

1. Go to icloud.com/find and sign in to your Apple Account. You don’t need a verification code: if the site asks for one, select the Find Devices button instead.
2. Under All Devices, select your iPhone.
3. Choose Mark as Lost and follow the onscreen instructions.

You can do the same in the Find My app on an iPad, a Mac, or a family member’s iPhone: Devices tab → your iPhone → More → Lost [Device] → Activate. We explain how to open iCloud on a Windows PC or Mac in a separate guide.

In Lost Mode, the iPhone asks for its passcode, and the payment cards and passes in Apple Pay are suspended. If Stolen Device Protection is on, Lost Mode can be turned off only with Face ID or Touch ID — even by someone who knows the passcode. Apple still recommends marking a stolen iPhone as lost: the extra safeguards of Stolen Device Protection last only for a period of time.

If the phone was stolen rather than lost, don’t add a phone number or a message for the finder: Apple warns that a thief might use your contact information for scams. If Find My wasn’t turned on, the iPhone won’t show up in the app or on the website — in that case, change your Apple Account password right away.

Result: The iPhone is locked with your passcode, and Apple Pay cards on it are suspended.

Block your SIM card with your carrier

Codes from banks, email, and messaging apps arrive at your number, so block the SIM card right away, even if it has a PIN. Call from another phone:

• Kyivstar. You can also suspend the number in the My Kyivstar app. Choose loss of the SIM card as the reason: the number then stops registering on the network, and you can get it back only at a Kyivstar store with an ID document or Diia (from abroad, via chat). The suspension is free for up to six months, and the plan fee isn’t charged.
• Vodafone. To verify your identity, give the PUK code (8 digits on the plastic SIM holder) or two numbers you called or texted most often in the last 30 days. If the number is registered to your passport, give your full name and document details.
• lifecell. In the 5433 menu, choose SIM card blocking. The first five days of blocking are free; from day six, keeping the number costs UAH 0.20 a day.

Google notes that a carrier can use the IMEI to find a phone or pause service. Ask whether your carrier offers this when you block the SIM card.

Result: Your number no longer works in the stolen phone, but it still belongs to you.

Block your cards and warn your family

If the phone had banking apps or cards for contactless payments, block the cards in your bank’s app on another device or through the bank’s hotline. Kyivstar also suggests asking the bank to unlink your number from your cards. Lost Mode on an iPhone suspends Apple Pay cards on its own.

Over the next few days, check your statements and report suspicious charges to your bank, as Google advises. Warn your family and friends: Ukraine’s State Special Communications Service points out that someone may ask them for money in your name from the stolen phone.

Result: Your cards are blocked, and your family knows not to trust money requests from your number.

Sign out of your accounts on the stolen phone

• Google. In your Google Account, open the Security tab, find “Your devices,” select Manage devices, choose the phone, and next to “Account Access,” select Sign out. On someone else’s computer, use a private (incognito) window.
• Apple. On an iPad or Mac, go to Settings (or System Settings) → your name and scroll down to your device list. Remove the stolen iPhone from your account, but not from Find My. Remove any devices you don’t recognize, too.
• Telegram. On a computer or tablet, go to Settings → Devices and end the session on the stolen phone. Telegram recommends turning on Two-Step Verification in Privacy and Security right away: without it, the phone number alone is enough to sign in.
• WhatsApp. You can’t sign out remotely — not from another device and not through WhatsApp Web. Restore your number on a new SIM card and register WhatsApp again: the stolen phone is logged out automatically. WhatsApp itself can’t deactivate the account for you.

Check the list of active sessions in other services that have one, too: email, social media, banking apps.

Result: Your email, cloud storage, and chats are closed off on the stolen phone.

Change your passwords

Start with your email and your phone’s main account: other passwords are reset through them. You change your Google password in the Security section of your Google Account, and passwords.google.com shows which passwords are saved to your account — change them on the sites and in the apps that were open on the phone.

For your Apple Account, go to Settings → your name → Sign-In & Security on another trusted device. Review your email, phone numbers, and recovery methods. If you see changes you didn’t make, fix them and change your password. On a new device, Apple may set a waiting period before you can change security settings.

Then move on to online banking, messaging apps, social media, and Diia. If you have many passwords, a password manager makes this easier: here’s our comparison of password managers.

Result: Passwords saved on the stolen phone no longer work.

Report the theft to the police

Ukraine’s National Police ask people to report crimes on the 102 line, which works around the clock. You can also file a report at the nearest police station. The online form on the police website is meant for citizens’ appeals, not for urgent crime reports.

Bring an ID document and write down the IMEI and serial number: Apple and Google note that the police may ask for them. Here’s how to find them without the phone:

• on the box — the serial number and IMEI are next to the barcode;
• iPhone — at account.apple.com under Devices, or on another Apple device: Settings → your name → your iPhone’s name;
• Android — in Find Hub: select the phone and tap the Settings icon (on android.com/find, it’s next to the device name).

If the phone shows up on the map, give the address to the police. Don’t go there yourself — more on that below.

Result: The police know about the theft and have the phone’s IMEI and serial number.

Erase the phone if you can’t get it back

Erasing is the last resort: Apple advises trying everything else to find the device first, because erased data can’t be restored.

• Android. In Find Hub, select the phone and tap Settings → Factory reset. All data is deleted, though files on an SD card may remain. After the reset, the phone disappears from Find Hub, and you’ll need your Google Account password to use it again.
• Samsung Galaxy. In Samsung Find, select the phone and the option to erase its data. If the phone is found later, unlocking it will require signing in to the Google Account that was on it.
• iPhone. At icloud.com/find, select the iPhone → Erase This Device. With iOS 15 or later, you can still locate the phone after erasing it. Don’t remove it from Find My: that removes Activation Lock, which keeps anyone from activating the iPhone without your Apple Account password even after it’s erased.

If the iPhone is offline, the erase starts the next time it connects. Until then, you can cancel the request at icloud.com/find.

Result: The data on the phone is erased, and it can’t be used without your account password.

Restore your number and data

A blocked number doesn’t disappear: it’s moved to a new SIM card at a carrier store. At lifecell, you need a passport, driver’s license, military ID, pension certificate, or Diia; a new SIM card costs UAH 75 and an eSIM UAH 100 (as of October 10, 2026). Your plan, balance, and services are kept. At Kyivstar, a number suspended because of a lost SIM card is restored at a store with an ID document or Diia.

If you’d like to switch to a virtual SIM right away, ask your carrier about an eSIM — see our guide on how to get an eSIM in Ukraine. On the new phone, restore your data from a Google or iCloud backup, sign in to WhatsApp with the new SIM card, and check in Telegram that the old session has ended.

Result: Your number works on a new SIM card, and your data is back from a backup if you had one.