What to do when your phone is stolen in Kenya
The first hour decides whether this costs you a handset or costs you your money. Work through these in order — the SIM comes before the police report, because that is where the real loss happens.
Block the SIM and bar M-Pesa first
Borrow a phone and call your operator immediately. Safaricom customers dial 100 from another Safaricom line, or +254 722 002 200 from any other network; Airtel and Telkom customers dial 100 from a line on their own network. Ask for the SIM to be blocked and for SIM-based transactions, M-Pesa included, to be barred. Have your national ID number ready.
Find your IMEI
The IMEI is the 15-digit number that identifies the handset itself, and nothing much can be done without it. It is printed on the original box, usually on your purchase receipt, and it is listed against your device in your Google account. If you ever dialled *#06# and screenshotted the result, that screenshot is in your photo backup.
Report to the police and get an OB number
Go to the nearest police station with your national ID and the details — time, place, what happened. The officer records it in the Occurrence Book and gives you an OB number. That number is what every later step, including an insurance claim and any IMEI blocking request, will ask you for. Keep it, and keep the officer’s name.
Ask about blocking the handset by IMEI
Blocking the SIM stops calls on your line; blocking the IMEI is meant to stop the handset working on any network. Kenya has required IMEI registration since 2021 and the Communications Authority has set out a lost-and-stolen device register, but what the operators ask for in practice changes. Take your OB number or police abstract to your operator’s customer care and ask them directly what they need today.
Change your passwords
Assume whoever has the phone can read anything still signed in. Change your email password first, because it resets everything else, then your bank app, then social media. Sign the lost device out of your Google account from a computer.
Then decide how the next one ends differently
Everything above happens after the fact. Guard Eye is what runs before it: a wrong unlock attempt triggers a silent photo from both cameras, video with audio, and the GPS location, emailed to you while the phone is still in their hand. Guard Eye is a one-off KES 999 for Android. No subscription.
More guides
Setting it up on your phone
Common questions
Can police track a stolen phone in Kenya?
Police and the DCI can act on an IMEI, and the DCI has publicly described IMEI tracing as one of its more effective techniques. It needs a formal report, which is why the OB number matters. It is not instant and it is not guaranteed.
How much does an OB number cost?
Recording an incident in the Occurrence Book is a normal police service. If anyone asks you for money to issue one, that is not a fee.
Does switching off the phone stop it being found?
Yes, for anything that relies on the network — Google Find Hub, Samsung Find My Mobile and the rest all need the phone powered on and online. This is why evidence captured at the moment of the theft is worth more than a tracker consulted afterwards.
Guard Eye is an Android app made in Kenya. Procedures on this page follow the national process — police OB number, IMEI, operator SIM block — and the details operators ask for do change, so confirm with yours. Back to Guard Eye