BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR PHONE

In an era where the smartphone serves as wallet, diary, and identity, the splitsecond loss of a device triggers a crisis far beyond hardware costs. Experts warn that the "digital nightmare" of identity theft is often facilitated by user negligence. From recording the vital IMEI number to reclaiming control over linked email accounts, proactive security is now the only barrier to total privacy collapse.

- Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama

It usually happens in a split second. A phone slips from a pocket in a crowded bus, is forgotten on a café table, or disappears during a moment of distraction.

The real panic does not come from the cost of the device itself, but from the terrifying question that follows: What happens to everything inside it? Photos, banking apps, emails, private messages and even digital identities can fall into the wrong hands.

As mobile phones become inseparable from daily life, experts warn that preparing before a phone is lost is just as important as reacting after it happens.

One of the most critical yet overlooked steps is knowing your phone's IMEI number. This unique 15-digit code is the key identifier used by police, mobile operators and regulators when a phone is reported stolen or lost. Without it, tracing or blocking a device becomes far more difficult. Retrieving the IMEI is simple: dial *#06# on your phone and the number will instantly appear on the screen.

The problem is that most people do this only after the phone has vanished. Cybersecurity specialists strongly advise writing the IMEI number in a diary, saving it in a secure cloud account, or keeping it with important documents at home.