Lost Phone in Taxi need advice

[Na Fan]

Hi all

Apparently the phone dropped out of my pocket last night in the taxi. Needless to say it has loads of information on it others shouldn't have.

We've got the plate and are trying to locate the driver - but apart from that, are there any special places we can seek help from? There's many ways to track a phone.

Any advise ?

Na Fan

[mcfish]

Hi all

Apparently the phone dropped out of my pocket last night in the taxi. Needless to say it has loads of information on it others shouldn't have.

We've got the plate and are trying to locate the driver - but apart from that, are there any special places we can seek help from? There's many ways to track a phone.

Any advise ?

Na Fan

Unfortunately if it was the back seat then it's not the driver who will find it

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[steven100]

MBK ... have many cheap models and prices.

[Na Fan]

Yeah I thought about that - but it was very late, a long drive so it was fairly likely his last fare of the day. Hence I'm thinking he has it

[CharlieH]

What city ? Where might help?

[Na Fan]

It's a Bangkok Taxi. We went from Bangkok to Chonburi

[impulse]

Have a Thai speaker dial the number.

Better than even chance you'll get it back with that simple trick.

[thaiduncankk]

Lost mine last night too !

It has been switched off by whoever has it, so zero chance of getting it back.

[steven100]

me too !! must be a good business ....

[CharlieH]

Moving to Bangkok forum for local knowledge and imput.

[Na Fan]

Phone is switched off. But it was last online 3 hours ago. I has since triggered a remote erase. Does anyone know if that will work even if the SIM is changed?

[BuddhistVirus]

Try FM 91.0 (sorworpor) and FM100.0 (JS100: phone no: 1137). they are Bangkok traffic radio stations that broadcast lost and found stuff among others that many taxi drivers listen to.

Or try taxi radio 1681

http://www.taxiradio.co.th/index.php

Good luck.

[Na Fan]

We have video footage of the car - but the license plate isn't 100% readable. We have the four last digits of the plate, but the area code isn't 100% clear. According to two Thais it looks like either of:

พธ

ทศ

We called the Taxi company and they said the first one does not exist - is there a list of the possible codes it could be?

Fan

[gerry123]

Moving to Bangkok forum for local knowledge and imput.

Sorry Charlie but you know as i do it is so easy to take said phone to any local shop for unblocking/factory restore

new sim so location not relevant to the op the phone has gone go buy another sad but true world wide

[fey]

What brand phone is it?

Remote erase has nothing to do with the sim.

Was gps enabled? If you have a tracker online you could potentially find it that way?

Find my iphone is obvious but you need to have had it activated on your phone.

Was there a password or fingerprint lock?

If it was me i would call ASAP and offer a hefty reward. Meet in a public spot and do the deed.

There's also an app that will activate the front and rear camera covertly, but you probably did not have it installed.

Edited January 2, 2016 by fey

[norfolkandchance]

Call me old fashioned but I just use phone boxes. Just telling

[thrilled]

Don't streets about it.I would have bought another one less than an hour later.

[JohnC]

I know it's too late for your old phone but if you have to replace it download this app, Big Brother Camera Security, in UK it cost 79p not sure how much here. Once you install it and activate with a password that's it, if anyone tries to open your phone or tablet with the incorrect password it takes their picture without their knowing, sends you an e mail with the picture, gps co-ordinates and if you have google maps installed it will show you where it is! I have it on my phone and I pad, as well as find my I phone but the beauty of the app it takes the persons picture! I know an expat who left his phone in a coffee shop, went back they denied seeing it, checked his email , there was a picture of the member of staff, took picture and map to the police who went to the coffee shop with him, the phone was recovered.

[saakura]

" it has loads of information on it others shouldn't have". If they are ATM pin numbers, banking passwords etc then they can be easily changed. If they are photos and video clips, you can try sending am SMS to your phone with an offer of reward for return.

[The Big Mango]

On my lock screen , which all smart phones allow you to do has a rolling message.

20k to the finder of my lost phone thanks ,

English and probably more important Thai.

Thankfully never yet to see if it works or not , but hey its more than they could sell it for.

Also say thanks for calling as have photos of the family ... etc .......

And yes of course its a second phone and number I have for them to call.

Don't know if it would work but gotta be worth a few seconds to set it on the lock screen on the off chance it did ?

Edited January 2, 2016 by The Big Mango

[steven100]

What make and model was your phone ? may have found one

Edited January 3, 2016 by steven100

[Na Fan]

Steven, it's a Samsung Galaxy S5 black. No covers or otherwise fancy attachments.

[Na Fan]

I understand most of you are advising to just let it go. However, considering the circumstances I can't really do that:

1. We know the place and time the phone disappeared, down to the exact minute.

2. We have video of the driver, the car, the plate, including an image of his face. He also mentioned which province he's originally from and that he owns the car and didn't just rent it out.

3. We have the serial number of the phone, with which the cell phone carrier can track the phone, regardless of what SIM card is in it. I know the phone was fully charged and the battery lasts for days. If it was switched off somewhere, that's who has it (and I'd bet my cojones it's the driver).

4. I have all original receipts and the phone is on a contract (not prepaid)

5. It's an expensive phone and seeing how that guy just kept it as his own is something I can't allow to happen. That's theft

In my opinion that's as clear cut as it gets. It should be a piece of pie for the police to recover that phone.

What we did yesterday is the following:

- Contact the carrier's call center. They told us to go to the police station and report the loss, and take that report to the nearest carrier's shop.

- Cop filed the report and gave us a copy (on the same sheet of paper that also contained someone else's case, with personal details and all. Professional.)

- Off to the shop, they told us they can't do it. And referred us back to the cops

It's pretty much the same scenario that I've witnessed countless times. The call center staff is trained and knows what they're doing. The staff in the shop couldn't be more clueless and lazy.

Round two. I'm escalating this now internally with the carrier myself and will also escalate it with the cops through some contacts. Being screwed over by some low life scum isn't how I plan to start my new year.

Na Fan

[SoiBiker]

So a few hours have passed and you've decided that the guy is thieving scum who's keeping your phone for himself?

Presuming is even the driver who found it and not one of his later customers, maybe he's just sleeping off the late shift before he attempts to return it to you? I'd wait a little longer before judging him.

[IMA_FARANG]

It may be to late by now.....but get a Thai friend to call your cell phone number.

If anyone answers in Thai have your Thai friend offer a reward for returning the cellphone to you.

It may not work, but it is worth a try.

By he way, although it is to late now, but there are also apps you c.an install on your cellphone that will block access to it unless you call it and use the correct password to access it.

[lust]

Escalating this? Youre not really in any position to make threats to anyone lol. You think the police or carriers care about your loss?

[Na Fan]

So a few hours have passed and you've decided that the guy is thieving scum who's keeping your phone for himself?

Presuming is even the driver who found it and not one of his later customers, maybe he's just sleeping off the late shift before he attempts to return it to you? I'd wait a little longer before judging him.

It's been well over a few hours. I know that the phone was turned off fairly quickly (last check-in with google tells me that) - which means it was done intentionally (again, the battery was / is full).

[Na Fan]

Escalating this? Youre not really in any position to make threats to anyone lol. You think the police or carriers care about your loss?

It's their job, right? And I don't mean to threaten anyone. This is apparently how things work around here - you need friends to get anything done, right

[SoiBiker]

So a few hours have passed and you've decided that the guy is thieving scum who's keeping your phone for himself?

Presuming is even the driver who found it and not one of his later customers, maybe he's just sleeping off the late shift before he attempts to return it to you? I'd wait a little longer before judging him.

It's been well over a few hours. I know that the phone was turned off fairly quickly (last check-in with google tells me that) - which means it was done intentionally (again, the battery was / is full).

You don't know why it was turned off. You don't know who has it. It might even just be somewhere where it doesn't get a signal. Seems a bit much to start calling the driver thieving scum at this stage.

Sure, losing your phone sucks. I'd be annoyed too. But it was you that left it in a taxi.

[Na Fan]

Perhaps you're right.