When a phone is stolen, modern thieves are often savvy to anti-theft features. Their immediate goal is to disconnect the device from its owner and the internet to prevent being tracked and to make the phone resettable for resale.
The First Move: Disconnect from the Network
A thief’s most critical step is to break the phone’s connection. They will immediately turn on Airplane Mode or manually disable both Wi-Fi and cellular data. This severs the device’s link to Find My Device (Android) or Find My (iPhone) services, rendering real-time location tracking useless before the owner may even realize the phone is gone.
Shutting Down or Restarting the Device
If they cannot access the settings quickly, a thief will simply power the phone off completely. This has the same effect as Airplane Mode, instantly cutting all connections. On many modern phones, a simple shutdown also disables biometric unlock (like Face ID or fingerprint), requiring a passcode to reactivate them upon restart, adding a layer of security.
The Dangers of the SIM Card
The physical SIM card is a major target. A thief will often eject the SIM tray and remove or destroy the card. This prevents the owner from being called, prevents the phone from connecting to a cellular network, and can also be used to intercept two-factor authentication SMS codes if the owner hasn’t secured their phone number with a PIN through their carrier.
Factory Resetting the Device (The “Clean Slate”)
If a thief gains access to the phone’s settings—either because it wasn’t locked or they forced the owner to unlock it—they will attempt a factory reset. This process erases all personal data and, crucially, they believe it will remove the activation lock (like Google Factory Reset Protection or Apple’s Activation Lock). However, these modern locks are designed to persist through a reset, rendering the phone unusable without the original owner’s account credentials.
How to Protect Your Device in Advance
Understanding these tactics is the first step to foiling them. Key preventative measures include always using a strong passcode (not just biometrics), enabling the built-in anti-theft activation lock in your device’s settings, and setting a PIN with your mobile carrier to prevent SIM swap fraud.
Staying One Step Ahead
Phone thieves have a clear and methodical process to disable tracking. By being aware of their tactics, users can proactively enable the strongest security settings available, making a stolen phone a worthless brick and protecting their personal data from falling into the wrong hands.