Phone Stolen, 19-Yr-Old Girl Tracks Down Thief Using Google

Some of you might have lost your mobile phone in the past, but there are just a few lucky people who get their phone back. This 19-year-old teen from Mumbai is one of those people who got her phone back after tracking the device location herself. The teen used another handset to track every online activity of the thief. With this information, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) nabbed the thief right before he was leaving the city.

The incident is as thrilling as it sounds. Zeenat Banu Haq, a Marol resident in Mumbai, Maharashtra teaches at a preschool in her locality. On Sunday, while returning from Malad, Zeenat was unable to find her Xiaomi 4A smartphone, as reported by The Times Of India.

Google “My activity”

Reacting to this, she logged into her Google account to find the ‘location’ of her stolen device. To get the details of one’s device, a person can go on to a section called “My activities” on Google. There one can check and manage things such as websites visited, videos watched by the person and even all the searches that are done by the device.

“I used another Android handset to log onto my Google account and kept track of the activities done using the phone. I figured out that the thief had searched for songs from the Rajinikanth starrer ‘Kaala’on my device. He used the SHAREit app, updated WhatsApp messenger and accessed Facebook. Then, he downloaded an app for booking railway tickets,” Zeenat told The Times Of India.

One can also check the battery status of their device from their Google account. As the battery status of the device kept on changing, Zeenat figured out that her mobile phone was being excessively used. She also found out that the thief had booked a Dadar-Tiruvannamalai ticket for Sunday.

Google Photos

After booking the ticket, the thief took the screenshots of the Railway ticket, his seat number and the PNR number. But, little did he know that she can check the screenshot and the pictures he took through Google Photos.

“Through Google Photos, I accessed his ticket details as well as his photo. A quick internet search showed that the train would leave from Dadar Terminus at around 9.30pm on Sunday. I left home and headed straight for Dadar Terminus where I found an RPF personnel and narrated everything to him,” said Zeenat

Zeenat along with the RPF personnel waited for the man to come, but he did not reach immediately. As soon as he arrived to take his seat, the RPF started to question the thief.

“My phone was found, but he claimed that it had been mortgaged with him. By then, I had broken down as I was scared. But the RPF asked a lot of questions, and he and the woman he was travelling with gave contradictory answers,” said Zeenat.

The Logical Indian community appreciates Zeenat’s presence of mind and also for keeping her head calm through the entire situation. When a phone is stolen, it is important to file an FIR as people can use the phone for illegal activities. If the phone is on, then Google can help track the device. To get a stolen phone back, it is necessary to follow all the steps.

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