GadgetByte Nepal

Phones have evolved from a simple device that lets you connect with people far away, to an all-in-one device that replaces many other gadgets into one pocketable form factor. We can store messages, contacts, photos, videos, documents, etc. on our smartphones, or run a whole business with its help. As a result, losing it will turn out to be quite a disaster. But don’t lose hope just yet. With a few steps here and there, you may be able to find or track your lost or stolen phone in Nepal. “May” being the keyword here as there cannot be a 100% guarantee that you’re gonna find or recover your lost/stolen phone; even with all the necessary documents and all. With that out of the way, let’s see what you can do about it.

Before actually looking into the necessary steps to find a lost phone, there are a few techniques to strengthen the chances of recovery. In other words, some of the following approaches are preventive ones; and not something you can do after the device is no longer in your possession.

Something Preventive

1. Find your IMEI Number

IMEI registration is one of the fundamental ways to ensure your phone’s safety in regards to theft. Short for “International Mobile Equipment Identity”, it is a 15-digit unique identifying number of a phone in a GSM or a WCDMA network. Similarly, CDMA phones have either MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) or ESN (Electronic Serial Number) instead of IMEI.

Chances are, your phone will have an IMEI number instead; as it’s the only standard in Nepal right now since CDMA is being discontinued. But hey, if you still have an old CDMA phone lying around and would like to register it, that’s entirely possible. To look up your device’s IMEI/MEID/ESN number, all you gotta do is dial *#06#. Or, this info is available under your phone’s “About” section inside the settings too. Similarly, you can find your phone’s IMEI information on the device’s box; and hopefully even on the purchase bill and warranty card as well.

The Role of NTA and MDMS

Anyway, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is the one concerned with the registration of mobile handsets. If you have purchased your phone from a legal seller within the country, your IMEI number should be already registered. Just head over to this link to know if it’s been registered or not! Now, while the registration is simple and all, it is void of any verification if the device you’re registering actually belongs to you or not. Not that an IMEI number is common knowledge and anyone can easily find out yours, but still.

If not, head over to this link to enroll your phone into NTA’s database, which is now called Mobile Device Management System (MDMS). The system was brought in to curb grey and illegal phones.

Remember to accurately fill in every detail; especially the IMEI number since the success of the process completely relies on it.

Phones brought from Abroad

If your phone is imported or brought from abroad, you’ll need the following documents: a scanned copy of your passport with the stamp of the immigration department, the date of arrival of the person who brought the phone to Nepal, the purchase bill, model and manufacturer of phone, ID, and contact of the phone user/owner.

After submitting it, you will receive an email saying that NTA has received the application; and has sent it to the related department. Once everything checks out, you’ll receive another email (usually within two weeks) saying your IMEI has been approved.

2. Securing Your Phone

Besides NTA, the security standard of your phone itself is vital against any future case of loss or theft. First off, always associate the device with an account depending upon the operating system. For instance, an Android phone should have a Google account while an iOS device should be paired with an Apple ID.

While you’re at it, link the said account with your primary phone number. This is crucial for recovery and authentication processes. Along these, make sure the device is secured with a strong screen lock which can be a pin, password, pattern, fingerprint, or face unlock. Opting for a simple swipe-based unlock or none at all is terrible. It basically gives the freedom to alter your phone’s ownership to the thief; as s/he can easily replace the existing account with their own.

Lock Screen Message: A lifesaver!

There’s also one neat feature on Android phones where you can input a message on the lock screen. Disappointingly, most people either don’t know about this at all or keep rather cringe-inducing messages like “you don’t know my password lol”. This feature goes by different names under phones from different manufacturers but ultimately will be found inside the “Lock Screen” settings. For instance, it is labeled as “Lock Screen Message” in stock Android phones while Samsung calls it “Contact information”.

Lock Screen Message

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Here, you can type in some helpful piece of info so that a good Samaritan can easily coordinate with you to return the device. Unfortunately, this feature is a little convoluted in iOS devices as the feature isn’t cooked into the system. But the easiest workaround against this is to apply a lock screen wallpaper with the desired messages edited into the image itself. You may also make use of third-party apps like “Hexnode” for this task.

Find or Track Your Lost or Stolen Phone in Nepal

Method #1: What you can do about it

Well, those were some things you could do before you lose the device. So, let’s take a look at what you can do to try and recover your lost phone. Save for the obvious try at calling the phone as soon as you realize it’s gone missing, the first thing to try is to locate the phone using remote access features of Android or iOS. Giving the benefit of the doubt to the finder’s inability to contact you back, or the possible fact that you may have just misplaced the phone somewhere around you, this should be the first thing you try.

> Android phones

For Android owners, visit “google.com/android/find” on your PC or other phone and log in using the Google account you had on the device you lost. Better yet, you can use the “Find My Device” app for an even more seamless experience.

Using this feature, you can view the last-seen address of your phone on Google Maps, its network status, and battery level.

• First, open the Find My Device app on another Android smartphone and sign in to the same Gmail you have used on the lost phone.
• Then, you can select the device you want to locate.
• It will then ask for the lock screen PIN or pattern.
• After that, you’ll be able to play sound, secure the device, mark lost, or get directions to your device.

Mind you, all these procedures require an active connection to the internet on the lost phone, or else they won’t work; the only lead in your forthcoming investigation will be the “last seen” information. And this is common to every other platform too.

> iOS

Let’s talk about iOS devices now. Like Huawei devices, you’re gonna have to set up “Find My” on your iPhone, Mac, iPad, or other devices early on; to be able to find a lost Apple device.

• Moving on, sign in to “icloud.com/find” or use the “Find My” app on some other Apple device using your Apple ID.
• Here too, you can either play sound and mark the device as lost (which will remotely lock it with a passcode. Or display a custom message with an option to call a number appearing on the lock screen) or erase everything on it.
• Remember that once you choose the alternative to erase, retrying to track the device down won’t be possible.

Blocking the SIM

If none of these yield any result, the next immediate thing you gotta do is block your SIM. This is important in case the thief uses your number to conduct any illegal or unethical activities; it traces back to you leading to a whole other fiasco you wouldn’t want to get into. For this, contact your telecom service provider for more details.

• For NTC, Dial 1415 and talk to the customer representative, and provide the security code to block the SIM.
• For Ncell, dial 9005 and you’ll have to provide the citizenship details of the SIM owner, to block it.

Thankfully, you can take out another SIM card of the same number at a minimal fee; thus giving you the slightest bit of relief amidst the tragedy. Here, you’ll be required to visit the telco’s office with the citizenship of the person associated with the phone number as proof of ownership.

Mobile Track through NTA

Given that you have already registered your phone’s IMEI number(s) on NTA as I mentioned earlier, you can go to this NTA MDMS NTA portal to apply for tracking the device. Once again, be sure to fill in the details with the utmost accuracy.

Now, NTA will work on the issue of finding or tracking your lost or stolen phone in Nepal by coordinating with other concerned authorities; like the telecom service providers and Nepal Police. After this, you’ll receive a call or an email regarding further processes if and when the phone is successfully tracked down.

Method #2: How the police can help

A little more traditional and quite frankly a tedious way to find/track down your lost or stolen phone in Nepal is by visiting the local police station. For people in Kathmandu, the place to go would be the महानगरीय प्रहरी परिसर, टेकु, which is also the only one in the entire country to have a separate unit for lost/found mobiles. And for everyone else, you can visit the जिल्ला प्रहरी कार्यालय of your respective district. On top of this, try contacting the “Lost and Found Cell” hotline of the Metropolitan Police Division (100); if you are unable to make a personal visit anytime soon.

Before making your way down to the police station, make sure you bring the proper documents. These include:

• Citizenship (original or photocopy)
• Bill of purchase | Warranty Card | Phone’s original box (only one)

To begin with, you’ll be required to fill up an application. This includes details like your name, phone’s make/model, and more importantly the IMEI number. By now, you may have already realized the importance of safekeeping this 15-digit identifier. It doesn’t matter if your lost phone was bought abroad. Until you have one of those three documents, it’ll do just fine. Once your complaint is registered, the device will be put on the blacklist of MDMS.

A little tedious!

Under this, the police can begin their investigation after receiving approval from the court. Additionally, the frustrating thing about this process is the fact that the police can only do so much if the thief manages to activate a SIM card (maybe yours or a new one) on the stolen device. Well, NTA’s process is identical to this too so it’s understandable, I guess. As a result, frequent visit to the police station is in store. You’ll be prompted to revisit every 15 – 20 days in case any new development comes forward.

Lost/Found

On top of this, Kathmandu Police used to maintain a neat database of all the lost and found goods. If someone has handed your phone to the police or they have found it by themselves, there was a website to look at, but right now it is no longer available on either Kathmandu Police or Nepal Pilice’s website.

Also, if you’re someone who came across someone else’s phone and are looking to sell it for some quick bucks, don’t. A new law illegalizes this act of selling found devices. Therefore, the legal and moral thing would be to either try to return it to the original owner. Or submit it to the nearest police department.

Lessons to be learned

To conclude, it can be really difficult or really easy to find and track down your lost or stolen phone in Nepal. Here is a summary of things to implement beforehand to bolster the chances of successfully retrieving a lost device, and what to do next:

• Register your device’s IMEI number(s) into NTA
• Always link your phone with an email address (whose credential you remember or have safely stored somewhere else)
• Implement a strong screen lock option and make effective use of the “lock screen message” feature on your phone
• Use the “Find My Device” feature in the preliminary stage to locate your phone
• Hastily block the SIM card in case the above step doesn’t work
• Contact NTA & the police for additional help