I have not been able to post anything this previous weekend because my phone got stolen last Friday night, on the 3rd of February, while riding the MRT during the rush hour. I was peacefully riding the train, occasionally checking my main bag and held the fragile office laptop close to my body. Given that it was rush hour, there were a tad bit too many people riding the train at the same time so pickpockets are very much active during that time.
The first phone that was stolen from me years ago was also lost in the MRT, during the morning rush hour. It was an added reason as to why I don’t like lining up during rush hour in the evenings. I don’t like getting squished in and waiting in line so I eat dinner in the places nearby and decompress my stressful day as I wait for 8:30PM to 9PM to get home.
HOW I FOUND OUT MY PHONE GOT STOLEN
I went down the train without opening my bag because my Beep card (the train pass) was my book’s bookmark. I headed to the FX queue and placed myself in line. There, I looked for my phone and realized that amidst all of that mess, my phone was nowhere to be seen. So, I got myself out of the queue and found a place to sit in to take out all of my things.
Yep, the phone was nowhere. I started to panic inwardly because that phone has EVERYTHING – my banking apps, my social media apps, my notes, my recent photos and videos… It was a precious device to me, even if I dropped it multiple times and it was quite old. It was an Oppo Reno 4 I got on January 2021 as part of my plan renewal.
The last time I saw my phone was before entering the train station, when the guard asked me to open my bag. It was there, mixed with a lot of my items. My bag is normally a mess so it’s really hard to fish anything out of it without rummaging and taking out things. What I was confident in was that the thief got down before I was able to sit down. That was when majority of the passengers alighted the Cubao Station. Good job to the thief for being able to fish my phone out with such ease!
Aside from my phone, nothing else has been taken. Thankfully. My wallet was right next to my phone and it was still there, with every single thing in it. I suppose it was easier to deal with a stolen phone than a stolen wallet. It’s harder to trace a cellphone thief than a credit card thief. There’s a lot of traceability when it comes to using another person’s credit card and while that provides a larger take home for the criminals, a stolen phone is easier to sell without leaving any trace.
WHAT I DID FIRST – GET MY LINE SUSPENDED
Since the train is a public mode of transportation, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where my phone was stolen. There are no cameras inside the train too so I thought that going back to the train station and complaining will yield no positive results. What mattered more at that time was what was on the line: my banking apps. I never took out my phone so there is no chance for anyone to see the password. So I went to Globe (my postpaid line provider) to get help as soon as I got my items stuffed back into my bag.
Very calmly, I approached the staff and said, “Hello, my phone just got stolen. What can be done?”
I was advised to suspend my line with the customer service personnel. Together with the front door staff and the customer service personnel, we worked on suspending my line. As a last try, I asked if we could call the number to see if it would ring. We tried and it didn’t ring anymore. When I heard that it cannot be reached, we proceeded with the suspension. I was asked for my ID and a few questions before the suspension was finalized.
I went there very calmly which also surprised me. When this happened the first time, I was panicky and slightly hysterical. But this time around, I was grounded and took care of matters maturely. It came with age, I suppose. I also appreciate that the Globe team was very calm and chatted with me. I felt taken care of while the suspension was ongoing.
Before I left, I was told that I can get my number back by providing an affidavit of loss and giving it to any Globe branch. When I got home and decompressed, I got myself a template online and used it. A lawyer-friend said that I need to get that notarized before I can submit it to Globe.
RETRIEVING WHAT CAN BE RETRIEVED (INITIALLY)
My Globe plan is renewed every two years. Before I went to Baguio, I got my line renewed and a new unit came with it. I haven’t had the time and the bandwidth to change phones. That meant that I have a phone at home that can be used to retrieve my apps. It’s a great blessing that the new phone wasn’t stolen; however, thinking about it now, if I did move things partially – like my games and my media – before my old phone got stolen, I would have saved a lot of grief and knew better.
As mentioned, I never brought my phone out. No one would be able to open my phone unless they have my password or my thumbprint. Growing up with Detective Conan and a bunch of mystery shows, you’d think that maybe they’d steal my fingerprint one way or another or try to figure out the owner and find the correct code. A reverse Google image search with my photo might be able to point them to my socials and crack the code. Hassle, but possible, right? Haha.
I installed all of my banking apps and social media apps in the new phone. Anything with two-factor authentication was inaccessible. That fact gave me a great sense of relief because that meant nobody else can access the very, very important apps, namely the banking apps.
By the end of the night, I have, more or less, a phone that has similar apps with the one I lost. A number of the simple apps are accessible. One of the banking apps opened; nothing was lost. I went about my evening afterwards to work on the affidavit.
GRIEVING FOR WHAT I LOST (INITIALLY)
On the get-go, I knew I lost things that do not have any form of back-up — my recent photos and videos which was mostly from my recent Baguio trip. Those were important and irreplaceable photos. I uploaded some, but not all. It was something that I accepted quickly and calmly. I’ve lost photos and videos before and I was thankful for what I was able to save from messages I sent to people.
But in order for this to never happen again, I turned on the Google back-up on my phone. I never did that for any of my old phones. I’ve always thought that I already got my phone stolen once — I was holding my phone when that happened years ago — so I was a bit wiser and not used my phone excessively in transit so that thieves won’t be interested in it. Plus, my phone is very old. At this point in time, there’s already an Oppo Reno 9!
15GB is small for an avid screenshot taker and Booktoker so that will get filled up quickly. I’ll manage somehow.
HOW I FELT AS I DECOMPRESSED
On top of being calm, I also harbored no ill will towards the thief. There is a need that couldn’t be met through regular means so they had to do what they did. I hope and pray that the money they earned with my phone helps them out positively. I forgive them. I still do.
The whole grieving process was too fast, actually. I immediately accepted that I lost my phone and irreplaceable data within hours. But that was possibly because I haven’t really realized how much I lost during the first 24 hours. I loved that phone even if I dropped it so many times and complained at how it doesn’t have enough space at some point.
I did thought that maybe I should have written an if lost/stolen note engraved on the back of the phone. Maybe they’d think of letting me buy it back. But that’s not how things work in the real world. It would create a traceable trail if they entertain the idea of holding phones for ransom. Sigh.
I slept early because I was going out with my sister on Saturday to process the retrieval of my phone. I’ll talk about the process in the next blog post, along with my takeaways.
Love, Anj