Lost Your Phone in Japan? What to Do First, and How It Affects SMS Verification

You’re on the train, patting your pocket.

Your phone isn’t there.

Your mind goes blank. Yeah, it does.

And if you’re not confident in Japanese, it’s even worse.

This article lists what to do in the first 30 minutes, in order.

The short version: the order is “Find it, Stop it, Report it”

There are three things to do.

1. Find it: Use your phone’s “find my device” feature to check where it is
2. Stop it: Contact your carrier and suspend your line
3. Report it: File a lost property report or theft report with the police

If you’re not sure what to do, go in this order.

1. First, find it

Use the “find my device” feature from another device or a computer.

• On iPhone, it’s “Find My”
• On Android, it’s “Find My Device”

With this, you can check where your phone is, lock the screen, and display a message on the screen.

But this feature doesn’t work unless you set it up beforehand. If you have your phone with you right now, we recommend checking your settings.

Your phone may also have been turned in at a nearby station or at the lost-and-found counter of the train you were on. Calm down and check there first.

2. Next, suspend your line

If someone who found or stole your phone makes calls or uses data on it, you could be charged on your contract.

Contact your carrier soon and go through the procedure to suspend the line.

• Contact the carrier’s counter or support center by phone or another method
• They’ll verify that you’re the account holder, so you may need ID such as your Residence Card (在留カード)
• The procedure differs by carrier, so check the official guidance on their website

Once the line is suspended, calls and SMS stop working too. Whether you can resume it if the phone turns up depends on the carrier, so ask when you contact them.

3. Report it to the police

File a lost property report (if you lost it) or a theft report (if it was stolen) at a koban or police station.

• When you report it, you’ll receive a report acceptance number
• You may be asked for this number for insurance claims or other procedures

If Japanese is hard for you, you can also show a translation app’s screen as you talk.

Easy to miss: you can’t receive SMS verification

This one is especially important for foreign residents.

In Japan, there are many situations, like signing up for or logging in to LINE or your bank, where SMS verification sent to your phone number is used. We wrote about it in more detail in this article.

If you lose your phone, you can no longer receive those verification codes.

• You can’t log in to LINE
• You can’t get into your bank’s app
• You can’t complete identity verification for various services

The fix is to get a new SIM and make it possible to use the same phone number. There’s a procedure called SIM reissuance, and in many cases you can keep using the same number. Conditions differ by carrier, so ask about it when you contact them to suspend the line.

Also, some services like LINE require transfer settings, set up beforehand, for changing phones or losing one. Take this chance to check.

If you lost your wallet or Residence Card too

If you lost your wallet and cards along with your phone, you need to make other contacts as well.

• Credit cards and debit cards: contact the issuer to stop them
• Residence Card: If you lost it, you need to go through a procedure with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan. There are deadlines, so check the official guidance soon

What you need to apply for a contract is summarized in our application guide for foreign residents.

Summary

• The first moves are “Find it, Stop it, Report it”
• If you’re slow to suspend the line, you could be charged
• When you report to the police, you get an acceptance number. You may need it for later procedures
• You can’t receive SMS verification. In many cases, SIM reissuance lets you keep using the same number
• If you lost your Residence Card too, you also need to go through a procedure with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan

What you can do before you lose it works best. Check your “find my device” setup and your LINE transfer settings today.

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