What to do if you lost your smartphone or it was stolen from you?

Features of the crime

Theft is the secret gratuitous alienation of property in favor of a criminal or a third party. If we are talking about a phone, then it can be confiscated from the victim in various ways, which falls under several articles of the Criminal Code (CC) of the Russian Federation.

The theft of a mobile device is a secret theft of property carried out unnoticed by the victim. Sign: causing significant damage to the person.

Attention: the subtleties of the procedure for solving a criminal offense are given in Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of the Russian Federation. In particular, the text indicates that the investigation is carried out by a territorial unit.

Who should contact

In accordance with Article 141 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the victim must report the offense to the Police. The competence of this participant in the law enforcement system includes activities to solve thefts.

In addition, the statement of the injured person is the basis for initiating a criminal case. Without such an appeal, no one will look for the offender.

Not only the victim, but also:

• citizen;
• organization through its boss or founder;
• executive;
• member of a public organization and others.

Where to write a report of theft

Regardless of the circumstances, the investigation of criminal cases of theft falls under the competence of the police, namely investigators who investigate simple thefts, and investigators who are responsible for cases of qualified and especially qualified thefts. Therefore, a report of theft should be written to the police.

Police department at the scene of the crime

According to the rules of jurisdiction established by Art. 152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, pre-trial proceedings, which include an inspection and then an investigation of the crime, are carried out at the place where the crime was committed.

To reduce the time from the moment of filing an application to making a decision, you need to contact the police department serving the territory in which the theft occurred.

There are situations when it is impossible to indicate a specific location where property was stolen. For example, when the theft occurred while driving on public transport, while walking or in other similar situations.

In this case, you need to contact the police department in whose service territory the fact of missing property was discovered, since this particular place will be considered a crime scene.

Police department at the victim's place of residence

It is not prohibited to contact the police department at the victim’s place of residence. But if the police departments at the place of residence of the victim and the place where the theft was committed do not coincide, the application and collected materials will be sent to the department at the place where the crime was committed. The victim will lose approximately 3-10 days for verification and a decision on referral, forwarding, registration and conducting the verification almost all over again.

You should file a report of theft immediately with the internal affairs department at the place where the crime occurred - this will save valuable time.

Summary

If your money or other property has been stolen, you must immediately contact the nearest police station. His employee will take your statement of theft in writing or orally. The document will be the basis for initiating a criminal case and starting an investigation. The statute of limitations for filing a complaint with a government agency depends on the value of the stolen property and the circumstances surrounding the incident, and ranges from 2 to 15 years. When it is discovered that there was no crime, or the parties have reached a reconciliation, the theft claim can be abandoned. If the case goes to court, then you need to file a lawsuit to compensate for the damage caused by the attackers.

How to write a police report correctly

It makes sense to go to law enforcement only when you are completely sure that the phone was stolen and not just lost by you.
Without presenting documents or copies thereof confirming that you are the owner of the gadget, contacting the police is useless.

Document structure and sample

The form of the document is almost identical to any other application to government agencies.

The document should have 4 main sections:

A cap

At the top of the sheet in the right corner you need to indicate the addressee - the full name of the government body, department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to which you are applying. You should also write the position, title, and full name of the manager. If you don’t know the name of the boss, ask the person on duty, but even without this, the application will be accepted.

Below, please provide information proving your identity: full name, residence and registration address (if they are different from each other), passport details, contact phone number.

If the victim does not have the opportunity to tell about the crime committed, another legal entity or official, as well as, for example, a representative of a public organization, can report instead.

Detailed description of the situation

After the header, in the middle of the sheet, the word “Statement” is written, and below what happened is described. It is necessary to convey with utmost accuracy the events of the day of the disappearance, indicating all the details. Note when the theft occurred and when it was discovered.

List the external characteristics of the mobile phone (color, brand, scratches or cracks, if any), indicate a copy of the device’s passport, if available. Be sure to include the IMEI code, which can be used to quickly determine the location of the lost device.

Write where you discovered the loss and where you were during the day, indicate the witnesses of the incident, the possibility of recording the theft by CCTV cameras, and the name of the alleged thief.

Resolution

Here you express your request to review the document provided, provide assistance in searching for stolen property and initiate criminal proceedings in order to return the phone and capture the criminals.

You write that the thief’s actions caused you damage equal to the cost of the device.

Before signing, you will be asked to indicate that you have been informed of liability in the event of a knowingly false denunciation, which is punishable under Article 306 of the Criminal Code.

In addition, list all attached documents: phone passport, footage from surveillance cameras, etc.

Signature with transcript and date

Compose your appeal in several copies. Have the police officer sign each one.

An application for phone theft must be filled out in the prescribed or free form.

Is it possible to hack a smartphone?

The victims of scammers using social engineering methods are usually older people, or those who are not very familiar with technology. But the world is imperfect, and literally anything can be hacked - the only question is the time and cost of such hacking. And sometimes serious hacking methods are used in parallel with social engineering - then the attackers’ chances of success increase even more.

For example, Ilyas Kireev from Crosstech Solutions Group

told us that you can hack a smartphone in different ways:

• restoring access to the system through the engineering menu;
• access to the system through a vulnerability in the Apple Wireless Direct Link protocol, which is used for AirDrop and runs in the kernel of the device (relevant for Apple technology);
• searching the PIN code at the system bus access level through special software (Apple);
• account compromise via Google and Apple cloud services. Usually, this requires a password from SMS, which is obtained using social engineering;
• using device backups that are created automatically when the device is connected to a computer.

As the expert notes, gaining access to user data is not so difficult:
Using special computer forensics software, you can bypass encryption and gain access to all data in readable form, and sometimes users do not use encryption on backup copies at all. No PhD in Engineering skills are required, just read the necessary notifications on the locked screen. If the user's password is complex, even physical access will create a number of unsolvable problems, so clouds and device backups are the most acceptable vectors of compromise.

Ilyas Kireev,

Leading promotion manager at Crosstech Solutions Group.

If such methods do not work, there are more complex ones - this includes physical intervention in the smartphone, and entire hardware and software systems, says Igor Bederov from.

The expert told us that there are complex ways to hack devices, in particular:

• loading in safe mode or the engineering menu (depending on the manufacturer), this allows you to remove restrictions on the number of attempts to enter the PIN code. Then you can simply select the desired combination;
• physical interference with the contents of the smartphone. So, in some cases, you can unsolder the memory circuits and then install them in an unlocked smartphone of the same model;
• loading in debug mode and deleting some files (including those with the current password), but this does not always work;
• data extraction through hardware and software systems. For example, there are domestic developments “Mobile Forensic Scientist” and “Belkasoft X”, Chinese “iDC-8811 Forensic MagiCube”, American “GrayKey” and Israeli “Cellebrite”.

And sometimes a completely primitive deception of the system helps - if Face ID is triggered by a photo of the device owner, unlocking the smartphone.

So it’s definitely not worth losing your phone with important data (or simply leaving it unattended). Even if data is protected with a fingerprint, Face ID, PIN code and password, the chances of a successful hack are non-zero

.

Why is it impossible to pick up the document?

First, let's figure out why it is impossible to pick up the document. A statement is an official appeal from a citizen to government agencies, in this case to the police, in which information about any unlawful event is presented in writing. According to the law, this document is subject to mandatory registration at the time of filing, with further consideration and the adoption of an appropriate decision. This appeal is a report of a crime or incident that requires further investigation and one of the decisions:

• that a criminal case may be initiated;
• about refusal to open it;
• about transfer by process or to court.

Also read: Sample resolution to initiate a criminal case: how to draw up a document

Since the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation establishes only such a decision, others automatically become a violation, therefore, law enforcement officers will not be able to agree to this.

If you filed a statement with the police, then regardless of the reason for your decision, no one will give it back, because The law clearly provides for the procedure for working with this document.

What to do if you lose your phone

After discovering your phone is lost, it is recommended to follow the following action plan:

The operator can use the IMEI number to determine the location of the mobile phone. Almost all modern gadgets have this code consisting of 15 digits.

You can find it either on the phone box or on the back of the device - near the barcode or under the model name, like on the iPhone.

But the operator has the opportunity to provide you with information about calls made and the location of the device only after submitting documents to the police and initiating criminal proceedings.

After a loss, it is recommended to wait approximately 2 hours before blocking a phone number.

Are there legal ways to solve the problem?

The search for how to withdraw a theft report from the police can be faced by anyone and under the most unexpected circumstances. For example, too often car owners report their car stolen, but very soon it turns out that it is safely parked in the impound area or that the son took it for a ride and forgot to warn the parent. There may also be a situation in which the person who committed the offense against another person fully realized his guilt and fully compensated for the damage, often even moral, as a result of which the victim has no claims.

The situations described explain the desire to withdraw the application, but this is impossible to do, so the only way to resolve the issue is to abandon it on the basis of the absence of an event or by reconciliation of the parties.

How to file a waiver of a theft report

There is no specific application form on how to refuse a previously written report of theft. Therefore, they will not give you any form and, in principle, it is not needed. But there are general requirements for the preparation of this document, and they must be adhered to:

• the application is written to the head of the police department. You can also indicate as the addressee the official who is procedurally entrusted with the conduct of this case;
• Next, the applicant’s details are indicated, i.e. it is written who exactly draws up and submits the document;
• the main text should consist of two parts – descriptive and motivational;
• in the descriptive part you need to indicate that on such and such a date you submitted an application, but due to the prevailing circumstances you decided to refuse it (then you should set out in more detail the reasons that guide you when making a refusal). Here you can report that there was a reconciliation with the kidnapper or how it turned out that you mistakenly suspected theft;
• in the reasoning - refer to the legal act on the basis of which you are submitting your refusal. For example, this could be Article 20 (on the age of the person who committed the offense) or Article 25 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Checking devices

Not every person can afford to buy the desired phone model, so now it has become relevant to buy equipment on the secondary market.

In order to determine that your phone is not stolen, you need to perform several operations:

• Find out IMEI - international classifier. It is listed below the barcode.
• Find a database on the Internet to check the IMEI code.
• Enter the IMEI of your mobile phone in the search column and click the “Check” button (for theft).

Prevention of theft

Modern gadgets provide programs that allow you to track the location of your mobile device. But if this is not possible, then you can adhere to the basic rules:

• Do not give the phone to strangers who have asked to use the gadget;
• If you are on the street at night, do not attract the attention of passersby by the fact that you have a phone;
• When traveling on public transport, put your mobile phone in your bag pocket;
• In a restaurant or cafe, do not place your phone on the table;
• And etc.

Detain yourself

So, a person’s mobile phone was stolen, what should the latter do in such a situation if the act occurred in a crowded place, but the thief still went unnoticed?

You can try to find the device yourself. Moreover, sometimes it happens that the attacker does not immediately turn off the phone and reset the SIM card. In this case, the chances of a search increase. Therefore, as soon as a person sees his phone missing, he needs to immediately ask one of the people to dial his SIM card number. It is possible that the mobile device has already been thrown away due to its low value, and it lies somewhere nearby. Although this is currently unlikely.

Consequences and punishment

Punishments for phone theft are described in the already mentioned Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

So, for theft of property, the person who committed it may be fined (80,000 rubles). Or all his income for six months will be confiscated.

However, it is not always possible to get away with a fine. In some cases, the defendant is sentenced to 180 hours of community service or a year of correctional time. Also, for the theft of a cell phone, arrest for 4 months and imprisonment for up to two years are imposed.

What awaits a caught thief?

Punishments for theft are described in Article 158 of the Criminal Code (CC) of the Russian Federation. If the crime does not have qualifying characteristics, then the thief can be punished as follows:

• a fine of up to RUB 80,000.0;
• compulsory work up to 360 hours;
• correctional - up to a year;
• forced - up to two years;
• arrest for four months;
• imprisonment or restriction of freedom for up to two years.

For information: the maximum punishment for theft is imprisonment for a period of up to ten years and a fine of up to a million rubles. This is due for acts committed:

• organized group;
• in a particularly large amount (from 1 million rubles).

The found phone will be returned to the owner. If it is lost irretrievably, the victim can file a civil claim for compensation for damage as part of the judicial review of the theft case.

Comments

There will be no theft here, this is petty theft

Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, Article 7.27. Petty theft

1. Petty theft of someone else’s property, the value of which does not exceed one thousand rubles, by theft, fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement in the absence of signs of crimes provided for in parts two, three and four of Article 158, Article 158.1, parts two, three and four of Article 159, parts two, three and four of Article 159.1, parts two, three and four of Article 159.2, parts two, three and four of Article 159.3, parts two, three and four of Article 159.5, parts two, three and four of Article 159.6 and parts of the second and third of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, -

shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of up to five times the value of the stolen property, but not less than one thousand rubles, or administrative arrest for a term of up to fifteen days, or compulsory labor for a term of up to fifty hours.

2. Petty theft of someone else’s property worth more than one thousand rubles, but not more than two thousand five hundred rubles through theft, fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement in the absence of signs of crimes provided for in parts two, three and four of Article 158, Article 158.1, parts two, three and fourth article 159, parts two, third and fourth of article 159.1, parts second, third and fourth of article 159.2, parts second, third and fourth of article 159.3, parts second, third and fourth of article 159.5, parts second, third and fourth of article 159.6 and parts second and third articles 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,

shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of up to five times the value of the stolen property, but not less than three thousand rubles, or administrative arrest for a period of ten to fifteen days, or compulsory labor for a period of up to one hundred and twenty hours.

Hello. My phone was stolen while I was on vacation in the Krasnodar region. We were vacationing in the village and the police were never found. Now we are back home.

Question: Can I report a stolen phone in my city?

Does it matter that two weeks have passed since the theft?

the fact that two weeks have passed since the theft does not affect the procedure for accepting your application, but will create certain difficulties in finding the criminal and the stolen person.

You can file a theft report in your city, but please note that the verification of your application and the decision to initiate a criminal case will be made directly by the police department at the place of the theft.

Your application must be accepted at any department, but then, according to the regulations, they will be forced to send it by mail to the Krasnodar Territory to the police department in whose department the village in which you lived is located.

For greater efficiency, so that the application goes through the authorities less, I would recommend sending your application by mail at least immediately to the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Krasnodar Territory, and they will forward it to the department on the spot.

Good luck! I would be grateful if you rate my answer.

I am ready to assist in preparing the necessary documents.

The owner gave the person a power of attorney to sell the apartment and left the person in the apartment; after 1.5 months the power of attorney was revoked. The person. to whom the power of attorney was issued. Taking advantage of the situation, all property was removed from the apartment.

1. What actions should the owner take?

2. HOW REAL IS IT RETURNING PROPERTY?

The person who removed the property claims that, having a power of attorney to sell the apartment at his own discretion, he has the right to dispose of the entire apartment?

No receipts, no photos.

3. How to correctly formulate the text of a statement about theft of property, what points must be taken into account in the statement?

4.What role do witnesses (those with information about the property) play?

Hello Vera. 1. If a power of attorney was issued for the sale of a specific apartment, and the person did not have any rights regarding other property, then the authorized person did not have the right to in any way dispose of the property that was located in the apartment, since this is other property. To clarify this point, it is, of course, necessary to analyze the power of attorney. 2.

Additional questions

What can serve as evidence

As mentioned above, it is advisable to attach all possible evidence of the crime to the application. These include:

1. Witness testimony presented in writing.
2. Audio, video and photographic materials.

How not to buy a stolen mobile device

Another danger for citizens is associated with the issue of phone theft. Criminals steal devices not for themselves, but for sale. If the purchased device turns out to be stolen, it will be confiscated. Consequently, the funds will be lost forever. It is almost impossible to collect them from the criminal.

In order not to suffer from acquiring stolen goods, you need to do the following:

1. A previously used phone should be checked before purchase. To do this, identification is carried out by IMEI - a unique individual code of the device;
2. You can find the number near the barcode (below). Another option is to dial the combination *#06#, the number will appear on the screen;
3. Find a website on the Internet that contains an IMEI database;
4. Enter the number in the search bar and press start. If the answer is no, then the device has never been stolen.

Hint: the above operation must be done before giving funds to the seller of a used phone.

Is it possible to find it yourself?

This is possible, however, only in cases where special programs have been installed on the device in advance to protect the device from theft. Currently, there are a large number of such applications.

This is, for example, the iCloud program. This application is available for devices running on the iOS system.

The principle of operation of the program is that each device user has his own account in the system.

Using the application, a person can block a stolen phone through his personal account, and then track the location of the device through a geolocation system.

There are other, very effective applications. For example, if a phone is stolen, the application can activate the front camera, through which the thief’s face can be recognized.

The geolocation option will allow you to identify the location of the device and, accordingly, the person who currently has it.

Also read: Resolution to terminate criminal prosecution: grounds, sample document

However, it is important to remember that these applications and options must be installed on the phone in advance. Only in this case does the victim or police representatives have the opportunity to use them and facilitate the search process.

Can your telecom operator help?

You can contact your mobile operator to ask for help in finding your device, but don’t count on it too much. Firstly, the police will probably contact the operator, and secondly, in most cases the operator will only contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs on this issue.

Some (a few) companies have the ability to search for a phone number; it is better to contact the company immediately and find out if they can help you.

What to do if a loss is discovered

Having decided to file an application with law enforcement agencies, you need to clearly know that the property was stolen and not lost or transferred to a third party. In addition, when pointing out the alleged culprit, one must remember that knowingly giving false testimony is in itself a criminal offense. In simple words, before contacting the police you need to think carefully about the situation.

It often happens that after a certain period of time the applicant finds the missing item, for example, a telephone. In this regard, he has a question about how long it takes to withdraw a statement from the police. You need to understand that for quite some time in our country it has not been possible to revoke this document. If the missing item was discovered, you need to write a new appeal, asking to stop or not initiate a criminal case. The basis for filing it is the fact of a misconception about the theft.

As a rule, law enforcement officers treat such situations with understanding. But it also happens differently. Some investigators will insist that the applicant deliberately violated the law by misleading the investigation. In such a situation, you should insist on the mistake.

To avoid these problems, you need to think carefully about the situation before going to the police. Under no circumstances should you contact law enforcement while drunk. In most cases, things “stolen” while under the influence of alcohol are from friends or somewhere else. In such a situation, alcohol intoxication can serve as an aggravating circumstance when giving false testimony. It will be extremely difficult to prove a mistake in such a situation.

Is it possible to withdraw the application in case of reconciliation of the parties?

Reconciliation of the parties in life does not mean that it will be satisfied within the framework of the criminal process. This is largely explained by the provisions of the law, which clearly state when reconciliation is possible and when it is denied.

Special cases look like this:

1. If the offense is related to slander, battery, or minor damage to the health of the victim, investigators cannot refuse to terminate criminal proceedings (irreversible).
2. Copyright (patent) violations or sex crimes also include a refusal to take back a written document. This is explained by the irreversibility of committed acts.

In order to terminate a criminal investigation in connection with theft, not only the approval of the victim is required, but also the amount of damage factor. For example, an attacker stole jewelry totaling over 1 million rubles, but after initiating a case, he returned the stolen property and compensated for the material damage. Even if the victim has no claims against the criminal, the prosecutor does not have the right to stop the proceedings. Thus, the thief will suffer a well-deserved punishment under Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

How to withdraw a statement of theft in the absence of corpus delicti

Sometimes life presents unexpected circumstances. For example, the owner of a car left it in the yard, but in the morning the vehicle was not there. Naturally, a report of theft will be filed and an investigation into the case will begin.

However, if it turns out that there was no theft, and the car was taken to the impound lot for illegal parking, you can take back the theft certificate. In order to do this, you need to visit the police station again and make a new statement. It should indicate that the criminal case does not contain a crime. The refusal will be satisfied, and the proceedings will be terminated.

If you pulled out the SIM card

What to do if your phone is stolen and turned off or your SIM card is taken out?

If immediately after the loss a person is unable to call his own number (the answering machine reports that the subscriber is switched off), this indicates that the thief has already managed to remove the SIM card.

In this case, there is every reason to believe that theft was committed, and not the loss of the device.

In this case, you must contact the police as soon as possible.

In this case, it is necessary to provide law enforcement officers with documents confirming that the stolen device belongs to the victim, as well as all the necessary information about the missing phone (model, IMEI).

After this, you need to contact your mobile operator with a request to block the SIM card and subsequently restore your number. To do this, you need to contact the nearest operator’s office with your passport.

Theft at school

Unfortunately, the theft of a mobile phone in educational institutions in Russia is a fairly common situation. Especially when it comes to expensive modern devices.

At the same time, the kidnapper is not always subject to criminal liability, for example, if at the time of the crime the child was not yet 14 years old.

In this case, before contacting law enforcement agencies, it is necessary to take a number of preliminary actions:

1. Report the incident to the child’s teacher or class teacher, demand that he hold an unscheduled class meeting and a conversation with students (many children, afraid of the consequences, return the stolen property), in addition, it is necessary to notify the school principal about the fact of theft;
2. Notify the mobile operator about the fact of the loss of the phone, fill out an application to block the SIM card;
3. Notify the representative of the department for combating juvenile delinquency responsible for this educational institution.

How long does it take to withdraw an application?

Typical questions in this case: “Within what time can I withdraw my application?” or “How many days later can I cancel my testimony?”

There is only one answer: the sooner the better. Of course, as mentioned above, the severity of the crime is of great importance, but it is still possible to withdraw the application.

You must go to the place where the complaint was left, then write a refusal of the previously left statement, specifically explaining the reason for the withdrawal.

How not to buy a stolen mobile device

Another danger for citizens is associated with the issue of phone theft.
Criminals steal devices not for themselves, but for sale. If the purchased device turns out to be stolen, it will be confiscated. Consequently, the funds will be lost forever. It is almost impossible to collect them from the criminal. In order not to suffer from acquiring stolen goods, you need to do the following:

1. A previously used phone should be checked before purchase. To do this, identification is carried out by IMEI - a unique individual code of the device;
2. You can find the number near the barcode (below). Another option is to dial the combination *#06#, the number will appear on the screen;
3. Find a website on the Internet that contains an IMEI database;
4. Enter the number in the search bar and press start. If the answer is no, then the device has never been stolen.

Hint: the above operation must be done before giving funds to the seller of a used phone.