Did it ever happen to you that your phone got stolen? Well, it happened to me recently, on the 14th of October, on a Friday to be more precise. I was going back home and I took a train late at night, which was not busy at all. I was exhausted and I fell asleep for exactly 4 minutes. During these 4 minutes, someone was able to take my phone from my hands. When I woke up and immediately realized the damage he inflicted on me, I started to panic. I always knew I am attached to my phone, as many of us, but at that moment I felt very much lost. Nowadays we keep everything on our phones in a digital form, such as our credit cards, photos, and personal information. Thus, at that moment I found myself powerless, unable to call for help, unable to warn my friends and family, and without money. What made me even more frustrated was the fact that I KNEW the thief was still on the train, but the train was already at my stop and it was safer for me to get out there and run at home to block my cards and contact people through my computer. Leaving the train and knowing that I was leaving something that belong to me behind was very painful. However, I am conscious that we live in a very digitalized world so I am more than determined to do anything in my power to find this person.
SOCIAL MEDIA
This situation made me also realize how important social media are. As soon as I noticed the phone was gone I asked for help and through the phone of other people, I tried to reach out to my friends by searching their names on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGIES
Once I got home I immediately blocked all my cards, called my parents with the phone of my roommate, and tried to collect all the details and pieces of information I could remember that could be useful for the police. Moreover, I was counting on the fact that most of the time there are cameras on the train, and I knew exactly where and at which moment I fell asleep, hoping that this information can make the research easier for the police agents. What I forgot to mention before is that my silly mind kept my Dutch credit card and my OV-chip card inside the cover of the phone, thus they were gone as well. However, nowadays everything is traceable, especially credit cards when used, and this is the mistake the thief did not keep in mind. When I accessed the history of my credit card to block it I could see where and exactly at what time he used my card. He used it in the station, at the yellow machine that is used to recharge OV-chip cards. Using my card at the yellow machine was another mistake of the thief. These machines have cameras that can easily capture your face and make identification easier. Moreover, since he used the yellow machine it means that he recharged an OV-chip card. Either that he recharged mine or his, there is a number linked to the card that can be traced every time is used! With the help of technology, I hope I can collect even more information and that the police will be able to track the thief with the help of this data. Right now the Internet is my ally.
BITS OF ADVICE
To conclude, try to stay awake when you take the train, especially during the night, and always make sure your photos and personal information are constantly saved somewhere else, not only on your phone. If possible, try also to not depend so much on this device, so that in this type of this situation you will not feel as lost as I felt.
🙂
You’ve done a really good job capturing the dependency that most of us feel towards our phones. To be fair, much like you, I cannot imagine going a day without my phone and something as simple as not being able to find it in my pocker gives me the shivers. Similarly, I use my phone (and my phone case) for almost everything, including paying, storing my OV and other information. Kudos for you for being smart enough to realize what’s best for you and being able to use the digital media for your own benefit!!