We updated this article on Monday, July 27, 2020. On this occasion, we checked that the telephone numbers of the various assistances still worked and supplemented the information already filled in.
SMARTPHONE - After a smartphone theft, as in the case of a bank card where one must immediately oppose, a race against time begins. Since your telephone is most often stolen, already switched on and therefore ready for use, it is a question of reacting as quickly as possible to block the line before the thief has been able to use it improperly. But if blocking the SIM card protects the victim from fraudulent use of the subscription, it in no way prevents the resale of the telephone without the original SIM card or its use with another. However, blocking the handset so that it becomes unusable on all French networks has been possible since 2002.
The procedure to discourage thieves is quite simple, we explain the steps to follow:
Smartphone theft: how to protect yourself?
1. Save two numbers
The customer service number of your operator is the one that will allow you to block your line. If you're airheaded, here's the number(s) of each operator which, we grant you, can sometimes be difficult to remember:
- Bouygues Telecom: for theft or loss, dial 08 00 29 10 00 (link to Bouygues Telecom assistance)
- Coriolis Telecom: dial 901 or 09 69 32 10 40 (link to Coriolis Telecom assistance)
- Free: customer service can be reached on 1044 (link to Free assistance)
- La Poste Mobile: you can contact customer service by dialing 904 from a La Poste Mobile mobile or 09 70 80 86 60 from a landline (link to La Poste mobile after-sales service)
- NRJ Mobile: dial 675 200 from an NRJ Mobile phone or 09 69 36 02 00
- Orange: from a mobile, dial 700 or 740 and from a landline, dial 3970 or 08 00 10 07 40 (link to Orange assistance)
- Prixtel: to report the loss or theft of your phone, you can call 09 70 808 300 (link to Prixtel assistance)
- RED by SFR: to unlock a smartphone, dial 963 or 06 10 00 19 63 (link to RED by SFR assistance)
- SFR: several options here too with 09 87 67 96 18, 06 10 00 19 63 and 953 (link to SFR assistance)
- Sosh: find their customer service on 3976, 740 from an Orange mobile and 08 00 10 07 40 from an Orange landline (link to Sosh assistance)
Make sure you always have it at hand in case of theft, since you will have to call your operator as soon as possible to suspend the line.
Also keep the number IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) of the phone. This is an identification number specific to each handset. To find it, type "*#06#" on the phone keypad. A fifteen-digit code is then displayed, which you will have plenty of time to write down. The IMEI number can also be found on the back of the mobile, under the battery, on the label of the packaging box or on your phone purchase invoice. Keep it safe! If stolen, it will block the phone and there is no other way to know it.
2. Ask for your line to be suspended
The phone has just been snatched from your hands or you have lost it in a public place. First reflex to prevent calls being made at your expense: hang the line. Contact the customer service of your operator from a fixed line or from a mobile. After asking for your mobile number and verifying your identity, the line will be immediately suspended. To do this, the operator blocks your SIM card which then becomes unusable. A very easy operation, free and which can be reversed: in the event that you lose, then find your phone.
3. Block the phone
Your line is suspended, it is essential to protect you against any fraudulent use of your subscription. But suspending the line does not prevent using the mobile with another SIM card, for example. To somewhat deter thieves, there is a way to make the phone unusable, thanks to the IMEI number. Hexagonal operators have set up a common base, a kind of "blacklist", listing all the IMEI numbers of phones declared stolen. This blocking operation takes place in two phases.
File a complaint for theft with a police or gendarmerie service within 48 hours. And give the phone's IMEI number to the officer taking your statement. This for two reasons: the IMEI number must appear on the report and it will then have the value of legal proof, in particular so that the operator initiates the blocking procedure. In addition, it could allow (let's dream a little) to identify your laptop if it is found...
Send a copy of the minutes of the complaint mentioning the IMEI number of the phone to your operator. Upon receipt, the latter enters this number in the list of mobiles declared stolen: the update is carried out during the day upon receipt of the report. The three French operators will now prevent all communications through this phone on their network.
The blocking procedure takes a total of two or three days, between the filing of the complaint and its receipt by the operator. It is not mandatory and obviously only depends on the goodwill of users who have been dispossessed of their telephone. It's a small citizen gesture, which, if applied by everyone, could have a certain deterrent effect. Too bad all the same that the blocking of the telephone is effective only in France, since the list of handsets stolen in France is only shared by and between French operators…
Clearly, a phone stolen and blocked in France can be used without problem on a network in another European country or elsewhere. As a result, mobile traffic still has a bright future ahead of it! Unless the operators manage to agree one day, at European or even global level.
- Read also: Find a stolen or lost smartphone
If you have lost all hope of finding your stolen phone, you can opt for a new smartphone. Whatever your budget, you will surely find the replacement that suits you by consulting one of our selections:
- The best smartphones under 200 euros
- Here are the best smartphones of the moment
