How Can I Block my Stolen Phone Without IMEI Number?

Dhawal asks:

If I understand this correctly, blocking a phone without IMEI number is supposed to be an easy process. I lost my Vodafone Nokia Asha phone recently. After reading several articles I have learned that I should call the customer care to block my phone. The article, which was in the cell phone tracking section, mentioned that I must call, give my IMEI number and everything will be taken care of by the company. However, I don’t the IMEI number. So I was wondering if it possible to block a stolen phone without IMEI number?

Answer:

In short, it’s possible to lock your mobile phone without IMEI number. For this you have to make sure or explain more about the kind of contract you have with Vodafone. For instance, is your phone locked to Vodafone contract? Or, were you implying that you have only a Vodafone SIM card and you want to block phone using this SIM card?

I’ll answer both of these questions.

If you have a Vodafone SIM card inserted in your Nokia Asha phone, then you cannot permanently block the phone. You can, however, request Vodafone to bar or block the SIM card so that incoming and outgoing calls cannot be made through the handset.

If you have a Vodafone authorized Nokia Asha phone, then you can request for blocking the device. This is possible and I assume your phone falls under this category.

Now, can you block or lock a phone without IMEI number? In this case, yes! Carrier networks like Vodafone have all your details — from the calls you have made to the time you received a text message. This is usually called a “call list” — which is a file where all your details are easily accessible by Vodafone representative.

In this call list we have the IMEI number.

In other words, there is no need to provide IMEI number to Vodafone for blocking purposes. You have to simply give your mobile number to Vodafone customer care and request them to block the lost or stolen mobile phone. They will confirm your identity and once everything sounds fine, the phone blocking process will begin. The company has all the details they want. Your job is to request.

It may take 24 to 48 hours for blocking a phone. Unlocking or unblocking the stolen phone is also possible.

Note 1: If you have Vodafone phone insurance, then you can always demand for a phone replacement by paying some fee.

Note 2: You won’t be charged any fee for requesting to block your phone. Requesting to block phone calls — incoming calls — is a different ballgame altogether.