Picture a bustling market in Barcelona, with tourists wandering between colourful stalls, street musicians playing somewhere in the distance and the delicious smell of freshly baked pastries drifting through the air. This is the type of scene many people conjure when planning a holiday abroad — until someone reaches into their pocket to take a photo and discovers their phone has disappeared.
What follows is a frantic search through every pocket and compartment of their bag, followed by the uncomfortable realisation that the phone might actually be gone. Losing an expensive smartphone is upsetting enough, but now there’s also the small matter of having banking apps, emails, travel bookings and practically half of one’s personal life stored on it — simply gone.
Anyone would panic, especially when travelling around an unfamiliar country where even finding your bed for the night might depend on having internet access and Google Maps. There’s no perfect trick that will ensure you’re never at risk of losing your phone, but there are a few things you can do within the first hour of its disappearance that can protect your data, limit potential financial losses and maybe even improve your chances of recovering the device.
The first 10 minutes: find the phone before assuming it’s gone
Before imagining the worst, it’s worth checking whether you’ve simply misplaced your phone. A quick call from someone else’s device might reveal it hiding beneath a restaurant table or sitting behind a shop counter.
If there’s no sign of it, the next step is to use the phone’s built-in tracking service. Apple users can track their phone using Find My, while Android users can track their device using the Google Find Hub. Depending on the settings enabled beforehand, these services can display a phone’s location, make it play a sound or remotely lock the device.
Activating Lost Mode on an iPhone or securing an Android device can also help prevent someone from accessing personal information. If the phone appears to be in an unfamiliar or suspicious location, contact the local police rather than attempting to retrieve it yourself.
Minutes 10–25: secure the accounts that matter most
Once the phone is locked, focus on protecting the information stored on it, starting with your email. Email accounts are often used to reset passwords for other services, so securing yours quickly is a priority. Once that’s done, turn your attention to:
- Apple or Google accounts
- Online banking apps
- Any apps that contain saved payment details
Passwords can be changed from another trusted device, and many services offer the option to sign out of all existing sessions remotely. That said, there’s a rather frustrating complication that catches travellers off guard…
When security codes become a problem
Two-factor authentication is excellent for protecting personal accounts — right up until the missing phone is the device receiving all those verification codes. Suddenly, something as simple as signing into an email account or checking a bank balance becomes surprisingly difficult.
Travellers who have saved backup codes or registered another trusted device can usually regain access fairly quickly. Without that setup, you’ll likely need to contact your bank or email provider and complete additional identity checks. Before any trip, store recovery codes somewhere secure — separate from your phone. Just in case.
Minutes 25–40: make two important calls
Once you’ve secured your most sensitive accounts, contact your mobile provider and financial institutions. Canadian carriers such as Rogers, Bell and TELUS can walk you through how to suspend the missing phone’s service, reduce the risk of unauthorised charges and arrange a replacement SIM.
It’s also worth contacting your bank and credit card issuers to report the loss — particularly if mobile banking apps or digital wallets were installed on the device. Getting ahead of any unauthorised transactions makes the dispute process much simpler.
SIM-swapping fraud is worth taking seriously. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warns about criminals who attempt to gain control of someone’s mobile number in order to access their other accounts. If you’re travelling with someone, use their phone to make these calls. Hotel reception staff can often help as well.
Minutes 40–50: report the loss and check your insurance
Reporting a stolen phone to the local police might feel like an inconvenience when there’s a perfectly good beach nearby, but that paperwork becomes valuable quickly — especially if you plan to make an insurance claim.
Travel insurance providers often require a police report or reference number when processing theft claims, and some policies have deadlines for reporting the incident. For a misplaced phone, local lost-property offices may be worth a visit. Keep digital copies of all reports, receipts and correspondence to simplify the claims process when you’re back home.
Minutes 50–60: find a way to get back online
Your next priority is getting back online. The options available to you will depend on where you are and whether you’ve managed to get a replacement device.
A prepaid local SIM can provide relatively affordable mobile data, while hotel Wi-Fi offers a convenient temporary connection. Public networks carry security risks, though, so avoid handling sensitive accounts until you’re on a trusted connection.
If you’re visiting several countries — or you’re the kind of Canadian trading a Northwestern Ontario winter for an extended holiday — a global eSIM is worth considering. An eSIM is a digital SIM that can be activated without swapping a physical card. It requires a compatible device and usually a Wi-Fi connection to set up, with coverage depending on the plan and countries selected. When comparing options, check whether the plan includes calls and texts, as some cover data only.
A few minutes of preparation can make a big difference
You may never lose your phone abroad, but it’s a situation worth preparing for. Run through this checklist before your next trip:
- Enable Apple’s Find My or Google’s Find Hub.
- Save the phone’s IMEI number somewhere secure.
- Keep account recovery codes separate from the device.
- Turn on automatic cloud backups for files and photos.
- Save your mobile provider’s international contact number.
Holidays are more enjoyable when the biggest decision is where to have dinner — not how to recover access to a bank account. So alongside the sunscreen, passports and perhaps one too many pairs of shoes, take a few minutes to check your phone’s recovery settings the night before you fly.
