I’m probably being particularly dense this morning but I’m heading off soon on a trip and was just wondering what I would do if, say, my mobile was stolen while travelling.
I’d blithely assumed I would start by logging in on a friend’s device to my Free mobile espace abonné where there is an option to suspend the line.
But I’ve just realised that before I can log in, Free send a security code to the phone (that would be stolen).
So I suppose the only option in that situation is to call them. Which I HATE doing.
Rather weirdly, if you Google what to do if your Free mobile is stolen, their first suggestion is to log in and suspend the line yourself. But surely they know everyone needs a security code these days - which wouldn’t be available precisely because the device has been stolen? Or am I the only one who needs a code to log in now?
I lost my mobile phone when I fell in the river. I bought a new one of the same make and went to Leclerc, from whom I had the first sim, and they gave me another one for nothing and made it so I kept the same number on it.
Still waiting for a call from someone on holiday on the Atlantic coast to tell me they retrieved my old Doro from the sea and would I like it back?
No, but I’ll look into that. Otherwise it makes no sense whatsoever.
Eventually I gave up on Free and looked into suspending my phone via Apple. There’s a Lost Mode in Find My device. I thought I was just setting up this Lost Mode feature but ended up inadvertently activating it… At least I know it works though. The phone and all associated payment cards were immediately frozen.
Is it too early for a drink?
Yes ..that is the magic of mobile phones ..and it needs a little bit of detective work to figure out what’s happening … .The GSM is an enormous program with loads of parts The phone is a radio transmitter and it periodically transmits to the most local mast(s ) a periodic code ..basically saying ..I am … "IMEI xxxxcccccxx. " .where the number xxxxc is totally unique and was hard coded into a chip in the phone and cannot be altered or erased … . You can If you want just read it off the box the phone came in …Wen any mast picks this up to just sends the a message to regional and national registers of all current GSM network computers …so the location of the IMEI is known to a mast ..
The SIM card is something different and that identifies billing and tariffs and customer accounts ..but it’s what we as customers see as our number . When a SIM is put into a phone it links that IMEI with that account number .SIM cards will have 2 numbers on them ..a long serial number ..presumably unique and a much shorter number ..which we see as the phone number … When you insert the SIM .It connects to the GSM radio sends messages basically saying I am …phone number , I am serial number and I am inside IMEI.,so if I initiate a call charge it to my account with FREE /ORANGE ..etc . … . ( And by the way I no longer want to use the exact number I gave you just now ,I want you to use this number instead … ).
The bit in brackets is why your new card , which has a different natural number responds as your old number .It is also that should the guy fish up your Doro old phone and switch it out ..it goes nowhere .
Last bit ..When you phone someone .. The first computer in the network looks at the phone number ..finds the IMEI it refers to , and then sequentially polls the regional data base to see if that number is currently with them ..If not it starts polling internationally ..finds the one ,and works down to the local.poles …
Again it’s more than a year ago ..but yes . I would have logged in with my email or phone number and with the password and could terminate anything ..even send text messages ..which is a lot easier for me then trying a phone conversation. Getting a new SIM is very easy as well … .. So just to confirm this I have just gone to my laptop and can .. web site free ..mobile subscriber area , and there are two numbers visible ..Mobile ID .. 8 digit code which was on the contract and any fracture , and a password which was my choice … Now it did not let me access the site and account ..but that’s because it’s closed and I terminated September 2025. But I have no recollection of needing to do anything else
Two-step verification has been compulsory for accessing your Free mobile espace abonné for a while now.
But in fairness to them I have just tried to log in again and there is in fact an option to have the code sent to your email.
So, as long as you have some way of accessing your email on another device, you could suspend your Free mobile line if the phone were stolen while on holiday.
Am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I need to travel with my phone plus another device.
Now when I was trying to set up my SFR etc Moi account this year ..there was a requirement that a specific code be sent directly as an SMS message from SFR to the mobile in order to initially validate the subscriber account ..and consequently enable me to change or terminate services . But that’s a one time only event ,and since you presumable have the phone at present, should be easy to get ..Insert that code and you can do all subsequent interactions on the website from any laptop or mobile phone that you log into with your password..
"Am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I need to travel with my phone plus another device. ".. No you just need a scrap of paper with these passwords to sites you need …
We are talking at cross purposes .. Some transactions like my banking require 2 factor every transaction ..but normal websites ..including SF will send a code to either a phone or email for confirming validity one time only ..but they all have passwords ..and we use different passwords for different sites ..don’t we ?
That’s what I thought until I actually imagined a scenario where I’m travelling and my phone is stolen. And tried to work out what I would do, step by step.
I’m more worried about it getting broken than being stolen, so I always carry a spare phone where I can simply pop in the SIM card. The chances of it being stolen are slim if you always keep it on you and it isn’t a high-end model. If that were to happen, I’d look for a computer in a public place to contact my mobile provider and take the necessary steps.
It’s quite difficult to find public access computers now that all the internet cafes have gone. Even in the wilds of Anatolia last year we didn’t see a single one.
I don’t usually travel alone and could stand to be without my phone for a while as long as I was able to freeze it if it were stolen, and could still access my emails.
So - since I have an iPhone and am deeply embedded in the Apple universe - maybe a mini iPad is the way to go. With my banking apps already loaded on it and used so the bank doesn’t think it’s a new device and start sending security codes to my phone.
This 2-step verification is a bit of a poisoned chalice.
Does that not answer your problem?.. You go to an internet cafe or library . You access their website with your known email and password . They send the one time code ,you open your email in another window and get the code ..and fully open your account . What you need to remember is the password to your email and the password to your FREE account
