how can I track a stolen/lost cell phone?

I've heard there are ways to do it.
one of the methods i heard was triangulating with cell towers.
But I really need to find this cell phone.
It has important numbers and information that I need.

someone please help me out here.

As far as I know the average guy on the street can't track a cellphone. My guess is it would be illegal if you tried to do it because of privacy issues. Wives would start tracking their husband's movements and so on. There are services that allow you to locate a person - but it have to be activated by the cellphone company with consent from both parties (owner of the cellphone and the person that wants to track). The cellphone companies can easily track a phone (by triangulation for instance) so your best bet would be to ask your cellphone company to track the phone for you. You'll have to prove that it's your phone - otherwise good luck convincing them...

This page should be of interest for you.

I have tried this already, its hard, the only way to track it, is by having a warrant for search, and than going to a special company that has lists of all the phones in a network and the location beacon of them.

Ie:law enforcement uses this to find missing persons.

All this is about the whole privacy laws, and getting there is way to hard now.

If your phone is off, that is really bad, because you can not pick up a signal.




There might be something new out, but when I did it was a dead end.


There are ways iam sure the illegal people might, but I do not recomend it.

Sorry I could not help buddy
But I hope you do find it

peace

[edit on 4-8-2006 by ragster]

If someone has stolen your phone, then I don't think it's all that simple. One will need to know the 'machine number' of the cell phone (not the mobile number allotted).
This number is imprinted onto the phone itself and is permanent. This would need to be given to the service provider.
If you don't have this number, then uncork a bottle of beer!
Cheers! And have a nice day!

It is also very true you can use your account details, depending on the year of the phone, alot of phone have and identification card in them, the service will track it from there, but it very unlikely they will, bu tit never hurst to try.

I don't know for sure, but a few idea's occur to me.

Your cell provider has to hardwired number of your phone.

They can track when it is in use-to see your min's usage.

When the phone is in use, I would suspect the provider can use multiple towers to find it.

I think the real issue will be getting your provider to get off their duff and do so.

Good luck.

Contact your phone company. Shouldn't they be able to use the GPS option on it to track where it is?