A total of 4,043 cases of mobile phone thefts were reported last year. This number seems to go up every year. In this article, we shall cover how to recover stolen gadgets like laptops and mobile phones. As some move on to buy other gadgets after being robbed, others can’t stand to lose their information or just their gadgets and embark on tracking them.
How to recover stolen gadgets can be stressful at times since you don’t know where to begin as the owner of the stolen device. Fortunately, these devices may be found, though it is not always a certainty that you will find them when you go looking for them.
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The process of how to recover stolen gadgets in Uganda.
A source explains that the first step on how to recover stolen gadgets should always be to report to police the loss or theft of your device. This is helpful in case the device is found, the police can identify you as the initial owner.
After you report to police, you will be given a reference.
Your details will be taken and entered into the station diary.
In case you want to replace sim cards for telecom networks, you can get police forms which will be handed to the people that will help you replace your sim cards.
After this, there are two options to choose from; one can either go ahead and track the device or wait for the police to inform them when they’ve found it.
If one deicdes to go through with tracking, they should inform the police about this decision.
The police will then connect you to a tracker
You will then be given the conditions for tracking to be done.
You are required to provide an IMEI which you can access by dialing this code. (*#06#)
In case you don’t have it, you can take the box the phone came in when you bought it.
This will be used for an affidavit that will be taken to magistrate’s court.
It will then be taken to a network to see if the device was used.
After this, one has to wait until the phone shows up on the network.
When the phone shows up on the network, they look at the lines that were in the device. Police also looks at the frequently contacted as these could be possible leads.
These leads are then questioned in order to track down the thieves and get them arrested if possible.
Our inside source says the process could take longer because the thieves could be part of a bigger network. There are situations where the thieves in Uganda are linked to a network in a neighboring country.
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For laptops. The process is quite different since laptops cannot be tracked like phones unless someone uses it to get online. This still doesn’t guarantee the recovery of the device as many thieves tend to wipe the data off the laptop immediately after they get it.
Incase the laptop is used to access the internet, authorities can use GPS to locate it.
Another way to find stolen laptops is through informers as this was quoted to be the most reliable way to retrieve the devices.
However, tracking devices is rather expensive in Uganda, and would only be recommended if discovering the stolen gadget led to the detection of a larger crime. It is quite pricey because monetary facilitation is required at every stage of the procedure. In the long run, the total cost of ownership may exceed the cost of the gadget.
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