If your phone goes missing

Take a breath. Do these from another phone or a computer, and ask someone to do one while you do another. If you sent, emailed or printed your first-hour plan, that copy has your providers' numbers.

Now

1. Mark your iPhone as lost. On another phone or a computer, go to icloud.com/find and sign in with your Apple Account email and password. Asked for a code? Tap Find Devices instead: no code is needed there. Then choose Mark As Lost. If it was stolen, don't add a contact number: Apple warns a thief could use it to trick you.
2. Call your network to block your SIM, so nobody else can receive your login codes. Ask how you can get your own codes or a replacement SIM, because your number stops working for you too.
3. Call your e-wallets and banks. Your plan lists the ones you ticked. No copy? Use the number on your card or the provider's own website.

In the next 10 minutes

1. Change your Apple Account password from another Apple device you're signed in on, if the thief may know your passcode. No other Apple device? Try account.apple.com. It may ask for a code sent to the number you've just blocked, and if Stolen Device Protection is on, some changes can't be made on the web. If you can't get in, or your password has stopped working, go to iforgot.apple.com to start account recovery. There's a waiting period. Check that nobody has added a new trusted device.
2. Change your email password, then your other important accounts.

In the next 30 minutes

1. Report it to the police, and bring your IMEI.
2. Block the phone's IMEI, so it can't be used. In the US, ask your carrier. In the Philippines, ask the NTC, or Globe if you bought the phone from Globe. Expect to need a notarized affidavit that shows your IMEI, and proof you own the phone.

Today

1. In the Philippines: get a replacement SIM with your number at your network's store. Check what to bring first: some ask for proof the SIM is yours, an affidavit of loss and more than one ID.
2. In the US: if accounts were opened or money taken, report it at IdentityTheft.gov, and consider freezing your credit.

Once you're sure it's gone

1. Erase your iPhone. In Find My, choose Erase This Device, and don't remove it from Find My afterwards. That keeps it locked to you.

Please don't

• Don't remove the iPhone from Find My. That unlocks it for the thief.
• Don't trust a text or email saying your iPhone was found and asking you to sign in. It's a scam.
• Don't pay anyone to get it back.
• Don't go after the phone yourself. If Find My shows where it is, tell the police.

Good to know

FirstHour can't lock your bank accounts or find your phone for you. Your bank or e-wallet does the locking, and Apple's Find My tracks the phone. If you haven't made a plan yet, it only takes a few minutes.