nexus 4 stolen

[sut1576]

hi guys,

could do with some help if possible,

my son has had his phone stolen today from school and i was attempting to track the phone on googles website, problem i have is my son can not remember his account details at all so i can not get into google to track the phone,

i have all the details for the phone. imei number, sku, and serial, do you guys know of anyway i can track this phone or do anything to find out who has the phone.

i will block the phone so it can never be used again if needed but would prefer to find the person that stole it.

thanks for any help.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Firstly, I'd report the phone stolen to your carrier, so that they can place a block on the IMEI and stop anyone from using it.

You could try Google's Account Recovery to see if you can get access to the account too

 

[windowskilla]

Block first, ask questions later. That's the rule. *you* are responsible for anything done to the phone in the meantime. International calls, data usage, and charges to your account.

 

[lunatic59]

There should be a secondary contact on the account to retrieve the details. There are a good number of "locate my phone" apps on the play store but most of them require they are installed before you have to locate the device.

All I can say is that it might be covered under your homeowner's policy. Disable the device with your carrier and file a police report.

 

[sut1576]

i cant do google account recovery as he can not remember his account details or password.

 

[windowskilla]

Call the carrier and have its data/phone/account capabilites cut off. Start there. The device is useless at that point.

 

[D-U-R-X]

i cant do google account recovery as he can not remember his account details or password.

If you choose "I'm having other problems signing in" you should be able to input another email address associated with the account to retrieve the details

 

[D-U-R-X]

Block first, ask questions later. That's the rule. *you* are responsible for anything done to the phone in the meantime. International calls, data usage, and charges to your account.

A friend had her phone stolen and a load of international calls made over the summer and her carrier held her responsible, as she'd not reported it straight away - you report it, so they

can place a block on the IMEI and stop anyone from using it.

 

[sut1576]

i cant use google account recovery as he is unable to remember his sign up email and his password,

i thought i would be able to track it via the imei number

 

[D-U-R-X]

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much you can do then, I'm afraid (other than getting the IMEI blocked)!

 

[lunatic59]

i cant use google account recovery as he is unable to remember his sign up email and his password,

i thought i would be able to track it via the imei number

The carrier might be able to assuming the phone is turned on, but without proper identification or a court order, I don't think they will provide you with that information.

 

[sut1576]

will get the phone blocked kill the phone completely so can never be used again??

 

[D-U-R-X]

If the carrier blocks the IMEI, then it is all but useless... it would be able to be used on WIFI/as an MP3 player, but not as a phone!

 

[lunatic59]

Essentially what happens when a carrier blocks an imei is to put the number on a network blacklist. The N4 is a GSM phone so you need a sim card for your carrier account and a valid imei to connect to the cell towers. Once the imei is blacklisted, connection is refused on that network. However, the sim could be put into another phone, so you must deactivate that as well with the carrier.

It might work overseas as a phone, but it would have to get there first.

 

[bjacks12]

i cant use google account recovery as he is unable to remember his sign up email and his password,

i thought i would be able to track it via the imei number

Did you try the method suggested? There is a way to recover the password if you do that(security questions, backup email address, etc).

This should be a good motivation for him to remember his gmail address and password.