Is there anything i can do about stolen phone

[YorkshirePuddingsS]

My son lost his phone, he didnt have a password on it, absolutely stupid i know, someone has found it and is using it. Is there anything i can do as i think my bank details might be on there, uber eats etc apple pay maybe? Anything i can do at all?

The network provider cant help its unlocked to all networks and he has his own sim in it. Its not a contract phone its pay as you go.

In addition, does Apple pay have anything to do with direct debit OP? If you have given Apple pay a permission to take money from your bank account, you can remove that permission by just telling the bank to cancel the direct debit to Apple. Then they might still try to take your money but will find the bank won't let them.

Is Apple pay some kind of account you have to sign up for? I'm wondering if you can just completely close the account which should hopefully disable any payment system connected with it.

OMFG OP this is so frustrating.

Look, a SIM card works on a network.
He wouldn't be able to use the phone otherwise!

What network is his SIM card on?
ALL SIM cards have a network, even PAYG ones. Ask him!

Is he with
Vodafone,
Three,
EE,
O2
or what?
He's with someone!

Call that company, that's the network provider, tell them to block the SIM card because the phone is lost/stolen.

We dont care about the sim card, its pay as you go there is no money on there! And its not connected to my bank account

ok fine, just saw your update.

Apple pay is your bank card on your phone. If you cancel your bank card your apple pay updates with the new bank card.

He isnt using the sim!

Contact the bank again, Apple Pay won't get updated with the new card if they mark the old card as having fraudulent activity, did the bank give him his last transactions to check?

Log on to your online banking app and block ApplePay/remove the cards from ApplePay it literally take less than 15 seconds.

Ah, just realised it's your card - yes just ring your bank and ask them to remove it from his device

As per the poster above, remove all your cards completely from Apple Pay until it's resolved.

Sorry we cross posted.

Obviously he isn't using the SIM now, it's been stolen. But he was using it.
And if he wanted to keep his phone number he can get the network provider to block the stolen SIM and send him out a replacement SIM.
But if he's happy to just get a new SIM card and a new number, then yes I agree there's no need to do anything about blocking it.

Regarding Apple pay. I don't know how it works or really what it is. I'm guessing nobody else does either since nobody's replying!

I understand that Apple pay is your bank card on your phone, but HOW exactly does it get money out of your bank account? There might be some kind of permission involved in that process that can be cancelled. Or maybe not. Talk to your bank about that.

Also if your bank have given you new bank cards and Apple pay now has the new cards saved on your phone, that means the people with your phone now have your new card details too, meaning those new cards are also no use now because they've potentially been accessed by someone else. You need to tell your bank all this and ask for their help. There must be something they can do, even if it's shutting down your accounts and starting you up with new ones.

It all sounds like an absolute nightmare OP.

Oh good, people who understand Apple pay are here! 😂

from ChatGPT

Contact your bank(s)

• Ask them to suspend or remove Apple Pay / digital wallet access for the stolen device.
• Change your Apple ID password
• This prevents re-authentication and helps block further access.
• Monitor transactions
• Check statements closely and report any unauthorized payments immediately.

Key takeaway

• New cards will not be added to the stolen phone
• Existing Apple Pay cards must be explicitly disabled by your bank or via Find My
• A new SIM does not protect you by itself

Is the phone logged into his apple account?

even if find my iPhone isn’t on you might still be able to erase by logging in from another device. If not if you get in touch with apple giving them the email they may be able to block the imei and make the phone unusable.

@YorkshirePuddingsS if you change your apple account password on a trusted device don’t you get a ‘force sign out’ option (which means if any one tries to use the account on any other device, they would need to use the new credentials to login, and they wouldn’t have those? If any of your cards are linked to Uber or similar apps on his phone then you need to login to your Uber account and remove any payment cards at least temporarily. Then change your Uber password so whoever has the phone can’t login on his phone (same deal with ‘forcing logout on all devices’ if you can).

If you had your actual bank account app on his phone you would need to contact your bank to freeze the account and potentially block the cards but I see in another post you don’t which is one good thing.

He has tried that on his new iPhone it didn’t let him.

Do you mean he couldn't log in because the new people changed the password?
Or do you mean he logged in but couldn't erase?

He can log in but he can’t erase it or report it as lost or stolen as find my iPhone wasn’t enabled on the lost phone.

All iPhones need a passcode. How have they got his?

They don’t, you can set it to not have one.

Accidental quote

OP do you have the IMEI number that’s on the back of the phone’s original box or written down from the phone’s settings info? You can call Apple and get them to wipe it with that.

If not he’s been really stupid and basically taken 0 security precautions which are - 1. A password or Face ID to access the phone. 2. Connecting Find My to the phone 3. Having the phones ID code (IMEI) to get it wiped.

You’ll have to do everything manually because he has chosen to skip steps 1-3 of security and data protection- you cannot erase it, block it, log out of it as he didn’t do those steps.

So, cancel all your bank cards and tell the banks the phone has been stolen to ask them to not reissue cards to the phone. Change his Apple ID password and the passwords for all of his apps. Contact the phone carrier and get them to block the SIM.

Tell your son to set a password and note the IMEI in future and log into Find My. Or else he’s basically setting himself up to be robbed.

He does have the imei but having googled this it says apple can’t block it 🤷‍♀️only the carrier can but he is obviously using a different sim now so don’t see how they can block it now?

Whatever network provider the old SIM was with, he needs to call them to report the phone and SIM as stolen. He will need to tell them his old phone number (the one from the stolen SIM) and the IMEI number of the stolen phone. With this information they can block both the phone and the SIM. This will mean nobody can use either of them. Then the thieves will be left with a plastic rectangle filled with bits of metal and wires, that's all the phone will be, it won't function any more.

If his new SIM is with the same network he can call customer services from that new SIM using the short code. He will just have to make sure he tells them it's his old phone number and phone that needs blocking, not the one he's calling from.

If his new SIM is with a different network he will have to Google for the full phone number for customer services for the old network, not the shirt code. Then he can call the number and tell them about his stolen phone and get the phone and SIM blocked.