Remote Erasing Your Cell Phone and Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft

By Lisa Carey
Sure you need to worry about "what's in your wallet" to protect yourself from identity theft and fraud but have you ever thought about "what's on your phone"? Stolen or stumbled upon cell phones and smart phones can put you at risk in many ways.

Do you have PIN numbers on your cell phone?

Have you stored important documents, or even corporate documents on a handset?

Do you have photos on your cell phone you'd rather not have a stranger see?

Could someone use any of the information on your phone to steal your identity?

Are there e-mails on your smart phone with account information from online shopping?

If you lose a cell phone, plan to donate a cell phone, want to trade in a cell phone for cash or believe your cell phone has been stolen you will want to know how to remotely wipe your phone.

Remote Erasing Help:

Android smart phones can be located or wiped using the "SMobile Anti-Theft" app for $19.95.

If you have an iPhone and Mobile Me, you can "ping" a beep and "I'm lost" message that should work even if your iPhone is on silent. You can also use Find My Phone to erase your phone completely. Look for Remote Wipe at the Apple web site for details.

BlackBerry phones can be remotely erased by using "Erase Data and Disable Handheld" IT commands. There's also a Roblock app for Blackberry for $9.95.

Palm pre owners should go to the palm web site and read more about the "Erase Device" option.

The Microsoft My Phone Windows Mobile service has options for backing up calendars, photos, contacts and texts, finding lost My Phones using GPS and also remotely wiping the memory.

Even though almost every type of phone has remote erase options consumers still need to protect their phone like their wallet and be aware that:

Your phone could have accessed before you erased it.

Your phone may be in an area with no signal or the battery could be dead that will eliminate some remote wipe options.

If your cell phone has been lost or stolen, be sure to check all statements carefully and check your credit report regularly to be sure that you're not a victim of identity theft.