How to respond when you lose your phone or purse

No one loves or plans ahead to lose either their purse or gadgets but this sometimes happens. During such a moment, a lot of emotions runs through one’s body and one doesn’t seem to have a grip over one’s thought and mind.  

This situation sometimes leaves some people perplexed for hours because they can’t still believe they have lost their purse and other gadgets especially if such gadgets are expensive or if vital information or items are in the purse or gadget.  

However, in such a situation knowing the right thing to do will go a long way in helping with the recovery of such items or at worst, salvage the situation from getting worse.  

Whenever you lose your purse or gadgets, here are things to do.  

1. Don’t panic or blame yourself   

  Most times when people lose their purses, gadgets or other items, the first thing they begin to do is to panic or blame themselves for being careless forgetting that even the smartest person can lose precious items as well.  

Panicking or blaming oneself during such incidents will not help in the recovery of the items or anyway else, instead it will prevent you from getting a grip of yourself and making wise and timely decisions.  

So, whenever you lose your purse or gadgets, do not panic or blame yourself, rather think of ways of salvaging the situation.   

2. Find a means of contacting your relatives or friends   

In case you get stranded as a result of the missing purse or gadgets, you can approach a passerby.   

Explain the situation to them, so, that they can either spare you a little cash to help you get home or you can make use of their phone to call a friend or relative to come topick you up wherever you are.    

3. File a police report   

When you lose your purse containing items such as your debit cards and other forms of identification such as school or work ID cards, national identity cards, and so on, it is best you file a police report immediately. This is because the missing items can be used for fraudulent activities such as identity theft.    

So, reporting to the police help save you from getting implicated if such items are used by criminals.   

4. Reach out to media houses   

Another thing to do whenever you lose your purse or other important gadgets is to reach out to media houses.  

 This is in order for them to help you make the missing items and other vital information such as the place and time the items were last seen, identification number or other details known to the general public.  

This is so that in case these items are seen anywhere, they can notify you or the police through the contacts you give to the media houses.  

5. Block your debit  card(s) and other channels to your bank account   

In case items contained in your missing purse include your debit card(s) or mobile phone, it is important that you visit your bank immediately in order for your debit card(s) or even your account to be blocked by the bank, to avoid fraudsters gaining access to your account.  

Alternatively, if you only lost your phone, you can make use of your debit card to block other platforms you use for withdrawals through the ATM and vice versa if you lost only your debit card(s) but you still have your phone.   

6. Inform your contacts and retrieve your sim card(s)  

In case your phone is among the missing items, it is advisable to get a means of informing your contacts that your phone has been stolen and that they should not take any call or message from your mobile number until you have retrieved the line.   

This is because there are some criminals who are in the habit of calling the contacts on stolen phones disguising as the real owner of the phone just to get money or other valuables from these unsuspecting individuals.   

You should also go to the nearest telecommunications centre to retrieve your sim card(s).  

7. Track your gadgets   

Another thing to do when you lose your gadgets, especially smartphones, is for you to track it. With technological advancement, almost all phones have a means of being tracked through the use of the IMEI.  

If you also use products from companies such as Apple, and Samsung, you can also search online for means of tracking your devices and get in touch with the police to help you out in the tracking process.   

It is quite possible to recover lost gadgets or purses, only if you are calm and you make the right and timely decisions.   

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