My iPhone is lost or stolen: what are my options? – an NY computer support tip

Recently, one of our staff members lost her iPhone so she went through all of the options with ATT and Apple.  To save you some time, we’ve noted the below take-away points if your iPhone is lost or stolen.

1. Do not attempt to complain to ATT or Apple for a free replacement phone or upgrade.  Their policy is that no insurance is able to be put on the phone to get a free replacement if the phone is lost.  Why?  Too many iPhone enthusiasts have cried wolf in the past to a lost phone just to get the newest iPhone.  So, Apple is guarding against that with a no-insurance policy for lost/stolen phones.
2. Call and suspend service right away.  Don’t give your thief a chance to call overseas for free.  You will still be able to use the same phone number later.
3. If you have an old iPhone or another phone laying around, you can transfer your number to it.  You might need to go to the Apple support to have one of their Apple tech support folks replace the SIM card if the phone is too old.
4. You can get a MobileMe $100 subscription for your phone next time so that it will track via GPS where your phone is at all times.  That way, the possible perpetrator will be flagged if cops are looking for it.

Unfortunately, your photos, emails, and music are unable to be erased from your iPhone if your phone is lost.  So, the best thing to do is just suspend your phone line and transfer the number to another phone.  You should still have the bulk of your music and photos on via iTunes on your computer if you’ve been performing a periodic file backup.