Is there any way to track a Samsung phone?

[TikkaMasalaa]

Hi all, posting for traffic. Hoping someone can help

My mum has lost her phone today. We think she might have put it on the car roof, forgot it was there and drove off. Obviously it's fallen off somewhere. She's only been to one place so when we realised it was missing we drove back but had no luck finding it. Unfortunately my mum isn't very tech savvy so she hasn't got a password which means anyone can look at her pictures, messages etc. I checked this morning and the last time she was active on WhatsApp was 11am. I've just checked again and it saids someone has been on it at 6:30pm.

Ive rang and rang and left multiple voicemails. My dad has also rang it and left a text kindly asking that they contract us otherwise we'll have to contact the police, although we know the police can't do very much other than log it. I've tried all the "track it" apps but it won't work because she hasn't got any installed or the location isn't on (one or the other I think). Is there any other way to track it?? She is going to contact her service provider to ask them to cancel it so at least whoever has it won't be able to rack up a huge bill, but it would still be nice to get the phone back...

Can the service provider track it?? I've never lost a phone thank god so I have no idea how these things work

Google find my phone?

I don't think you can track respectively, if she doesn't have the feature turned on I don't think she can do it now

Why have you waited all day to get the phone blocked, you should have done that as soon as you knew it was lost, do it now. You could already have a huge bill

@Nodal I have already tried that but it saids there are no active devices

@TikkaMasalaa

Can the service provider track it?? I've never lost a phone thank god so I have no idea how these things work

No they can’t, not without a court order anyway.

she doesn’t know she lost it, it could have been pickpocketed or stolen. She should report it to the police as stolen as clearly someone has it.
the mobile network will be able to give her the phone's IMEI number, which you need to give to the police.
If you plan to claim for the phone on insurance, you’ll need a crime reference number to do that.

If it's fallen off the car roof it's probably broken, especially if it fell into the road.

If someone has found the phone they will have taken the sim out, only other thing is look at something like Google photos & look if any new ones have been taken.

@Waxonwaxoff0 someone has been active on WhatsApp after she lost it. I've also rang it 10 times and it does ring so is definitely switched on

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair is 100% right, they is no way to track the phone if no tracking apps were installed, you can’t do it retroactively.

If a phone bill has been run up you will definitely need a crime reference number if you want any hope of arguing for it to be forgiven by the network.

@Nat6999 I've literally just rang the phone about 10 minutes ago and it rang. Would that happen if they have taken the sim out?

If you Google "find my mobile Samsung" you might be in luck. I've just signed into the actual Samsung website link using my email address and my most used password, out of curiosity with a stab in the dark, and I'm now signed in and can track my phone and Samsung tablet. Must have been something I didnt realise I set up when I got the phone and first did the initial set up.
Maybe your mum has done similar? Worth trying!

As per milky comment - Samsung also have a set of built in apps which allow tracking, however you have to have set up a Samsung acct and switched it on. I am v surprised the Google find my phone doesn't work, as assuming it is a recent handset - she would need a Google acct to make use of lots of the features? However if you decline all this stuff and fail to log in at the point of setting up the phone it can be difficult / impossible to switch it on retrospectively

Looks like there isn't a way to track it unfortunately. We've had it blocked so at least they can't rack up a huge bill now. I've also encouraged her to contact the police and log it with them just incase. I think she's just more upset because they can see all her pictures, messages etc but she will definitely have a password put on her new phone when she buys one. My mum has a heart of gold and has found lost items herself over the years including a wallet filled with cash and has always handed things in. Some people are just bastards!!

Thank you for all your help and advice

If you know the area where it was lost might be worth having a look on local fb pages. The most popular way round here to reunite lost phones/keys/bankcards/ferrets .
Hopefully someone honest found it .......

if you use device.google.com and login with her google account you should be able to track it

@rhnireland would that still work even though we've had the number blocked?

If she has all her photos saved to either Google or her Samsung account you will be able to recover those, is her phone insured with her provider?

She wasn't in Wales was she? Had a lady forget her Samsung phone in work funnily enough

When you go into settings on a Samsung phone, one of the last options is About my phone.
That gives you the phones long unique number. It is also on the phones box with pin/puk numbers.

If you contact your provider with this unique number they can block the phone and render it useless when stolen.

It is worth keeping all those numbers for any phone you buy.

[quote TikkaMasalaa]@rhnireland would that still work even though we've had the number blocked? [/quote]
I am not sure but it's worth a try

Send it a text message asking for it back.
This actually worked when my daughter left hers in a pub.