# Found phone - what to do **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820 "2016-06-08T12:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/1 "2016-06-08T12:28:38Z")
JR found a (Samsung Galaxy S6) phone. It was dead; he brought it home & tried to call Samsung, but they said call the provider. He plugged it into my charger & we found it’s T-Mobile service but it’s locked & there’s no ICE contacts setup. I called a T-Mobile store near me, the best they can do is bring it into them & hope someone comes into their store looking for it. Ummm, given the store is at least 5-6 miles away from where he found it, which was on a trail I doubt that would happen. I did see that it got an email yesterday morning where I was able to see an email address so I sent an email to them stating that I found this phone & have the owner get in contact with me. I also looked down at the right time yesterday afternoon to see that they sent another email. I tried calling 611 but it won’t let me from the emergency dialer. I’m thinking about calling 911 & asking if they can read me the phone # that it’s coming from but really don’t like calling for non-emergencies. Is there anything else I can do to get this phone back to the owner or should I just take it to the nearby school that recycles them? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/2 "2016-06-08T12:41:19Z")
I don’t know if this will work, but have you tried taking the SIM card out and putting it in another phone? There might be a phone number for ‘Mum’ stored on there, or something. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/3 "2016-06-08T13:28:39Z")
I’m surprised T-Mobile doesn’t have a way to lookup the owner of the phone. I would think they could plug it in and use some debugging tool to get the IMEI number. Is the serial number not on the outside? Leave it plugged in and see what calls/texts come in. That might give you a few phone numbers to call back. Check the lost+found section of craigslist to see if anyone is looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/4 "2016-06-08T13:35:22Z")
I think you’re supposed to give found items to the police, but it’s probably a good idea if you try to find the owner first. If you can’t find the owner, turn it into the police station rather than the recycler. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/5 "2016-06-08T13:40:08Z")
Twice when I’ve found phones I’ve waited for them to ring and then told the caller I found this phone and could they tell the owner I have it and to call it. Both times it’s worked out fine. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/6 "2016-06-08T14:01:35Z")
I don’t know when it was lost, but it was dead when found. I can see from homepage notifications that the last call was 6/6; before it was found. I emailed the only email address I could see over 24 hours ago w/o receiving a response. Galaxy S6 doesn’t have a removable backplate (at least not w/o a tool); therefore I can’t get at SIM card. No, **filmore** , nothing unique on the outside. I’m not sure which side he was on when he found it but the creek at the bottom of the park is literally the dividing line between two police districts & across the street from a third. I could get it to the technically right PD but it’s a 1 in 3 shot that’s where they started out. Is it inappropriate to call 911 for this since it’s not an emergency? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/7 "2016-06-08T14:02:06Z")
Do a [factory reset](http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-factory-reset-galaxy-s6/#:LFmAOKMXUGjKTA) on the phone. Note that this will wipe all data and apps from the phone. The phone will then be unlocked and you can place phone calls with it. You can call customer service (try 611 or \*611) and maybe they can find the owner. Otherwise, you can wait for someone to call the phone and then answer and talk to them. Note that if it’s a prepaid phone, customer service will not necessarily know who it belongs to. If they were so inclined, they could look at the phone’s call history and see if there are any frequently called numbers, but they won’t tell them to you and they may not even want to bother. And there’s a good chance that the owner has already had the phone blocked. You should still be able to call \*611 from a blocked phone, but no guarantees. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/8 "2016-06-08T14:08:30Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Is it inappropriate to call 911 for this since it’s not an emergency? Yes, absolutely inappropriate. Not a bad idea, though. I would suggest taking it to the police and asking them to do it instead. They can work with the 911 call center to set it up at a slow time. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/9 "2016-06-08T14:09:17Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Galaxy S6 doesn’t have a removable backplate (at least not w/o a tool); therefore I can’t get at SIM card. I think the sim card is accessed through a little panel on the right side. Do you see a 1/2" panel with a little hole on one end of the panel? That’s the sim card. You gently push a small pin in the hole and the slot slides out. If you’re unsure, take it to T-Mobile and they’ll pop the sim. However, popping the sim might not do you any good if you don’t have another phone to put it in. You would need another phone which took the same size sim. That would likely need to be another smart phone. But if you go to T-Mobile, they should be able to look up who owns the sim. The sim chip itself has the ID numbers written on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/10 "2016-06-08T14:26:07Z")
since you’ve determined that it’s a T-Mobile phone, just turn it in to a T-Mobile store and let them deal with it. They can look up the IMEI or IMSI or ICCID of the SIM and figure out which of their customers it belongs to. Don’t do any of this nonsense like resetting the phone (WTF?) or pulling the SIM and trying to comb through contacts. it’s none of your business what’s on the phone. If I lost my phone, and the finder took it upon himself to wipe it before (hopefully) returning it, I’d be _pissed._ ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/11 "2016-06-08T14:41:38Z")
Take it to the police. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/12 "2016-06-08T15:45:00Z")
Call the police at their non-911 number and report the fact that you found something apparently of value. They will advise you what you might do, and also be prepared to connect you with the person who lost it, if the loss is reported to them. Report it also to the phone seller or service provider, ask them what to do. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/13 "2016-06-08T15:50:44Z")
Actually T-Mobile can identify the user of the phone but you may need to call into customer service a few times to find someone who knows how and is willing to skirt the rules a bit to reach out to the customer. I’ve done it before. You call in and they can look up the account by either the SIM or IMEI of the phone and there’s no solid policy saying they can’t call the owner of the phone but some reps are wary to do so. Request a supervisor if they push back. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/14 "2016-06-08T15:57:52Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Galaxy S6 doesn’t have a removable backplate (at least not w/o a tool); therefore I can’t get at SIM card. Instructions for removing SIM card. You can use a paper-clip instead of the tool. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/15 "2016-06-08T17:31:18Z")
Put a sign up at the trail. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/16 "2016-06-08T17:43:37Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Do a [factory reset](http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-factory-reset-galaxy-s6/#:LFmAOKMXUGjKTA) on the phone. Note that this will wipe all data and apps from the phone… That is the last thing you should do. The phone, itself, is of little value. The contents of the phone is what matters. I speak as someone who had his phone stolen once. All I could think of was: You can have the damn phone, just give me my contacts and other stuff on there!! ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/17 "2016-06-08T17:48:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That is the last thing you should do. The phone, itself, is of little value. The contents of the phone is what matters. I speak as someone who had his phone stolen once. All I could think of was: You can have the damn phone, just give me my contacts and other stuff on there!! Little Value? [It seems to cost $679.99 at T-Mobile](http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-plus.html?CAWELAID=120159240000005328&cmpid=WTR_CS_p8289969672&gclid=CIzc5YL-mM0CFVclgQod0pkJvA&gclsrc=aw.ds). Maybe you should make backups? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/18 "2016-06-08T17:52:18Z")
If you call 611, can’t T- Mobile identify the number assigned to the phone? I know when I call 611, the computerized voice always asks, “Are you calling about phone number (xxx) xxx-xxxx?” ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/19 "2016-06-08T17:58:31Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If you call 611, can’t T- Mobile identify the number assigned to the phone? I know when I call 611, the computerized voice always asks, “Are you calling about phone number (xxx) xxx-xxxx?” The phone is locked, so he can’t place any outgoing calls. He said he tried calling 611 from the emergency call screen, but it didn’t connect. If he wants to call anyone other than 911, he needs to unlock the phone first. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820/20 "2016-06-08T18:03:49Z")
This won’t help the OP…but for everyone else, put your name and email address somewhere on the outside of your phone. I write mine into the wallpaper JPEG file, so if you find my phone and wake it up, my contact info is right there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-phone-what-to-do/756820.md?page=2)