phone got snatched on the subway yesterday. i've got the imei written down from the box. is there a website or service that can actually track a phone by imei? cops said they'll "look into it" which i'm not holding my breath for
sigh. i hate being the one to say this but:
there is no website or app that lets civilians track a phone by IMEI. every site claiming to do so is a scam or malware. i wish they worked bc i've been robbed too.
what the IMEI is actually useful for:
OP: so it's basically a "hope the system catches it eventually" thing
pretty much. call your carrier today and blacklist it. that at least prevents someone else from using it on a legit network.
also if you had find my / find my device on, use that from a browser. way more useful than IMEI for actually locating
file a police report with the imei on it. you'll need the report number for any insurance claim (home/renter's usually covers stolen phones) and for your carrier.
also change all your passwords and 2fa targets ASAP. whoever has the phone might have SIM access which can mean text-based 2fa is compromised
happened to me last year. did everything right — blacklisted, police report, find my active. got a ping from the phone 3 weeks later in a different state. cops there didn't do anything. gave up.
buy insurance next phone. that's what saved me
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