What to do with your WeChat account if you lose your phone? Tencent releases new official guide

Losing a mobile phone is probably one of the most worrying security issues in the Internet age. Once lost, we are likely to face the risk of our chat records and bank account information being snooped and stolen. As one of the most commonly used social software, WeChat also deserves our attention in terms of security issues when a mobile phone is lost. WeChat officials have issued a new guide to countermeasures after a mobile phone is lost.

The details are as follows:

Don't panic if you lose your phone, there are ways to deal with it calmly

I believe that many people's first reaction after accidentally losing their mobile phones is to report the loss of the mobile phone number. Yes, we should contact the communication operator (such as China Mobile) as soon as possible to report the loss or replace the card, which means that strangers who get our mobile phones will not be able to use the mobile phone verification code to change the WeChat account, steal the property bound to the mobile phone, etc.

However, you should note that in this case, bad guys may still be able to bypass the SMS verification step to log into your WeChat account. In order to prevent bad guys from stealing WeChat privacy, committing fraud or stealing WeChat payment funds, the WeChat security team recommends that you use the most reliable method - freezing your account. Let me take you through the operation process of hacking!

Freeze WeChat account in two steps

We can find the account freezing function on the WeChat Security Center website (https://weixin110.qq.com) or at the bottom of the WeChat login page. Then we only need to complete two steps to successfully freeze WeChat.

▲The above picture shows the steps to freeze an account

• Enter the WeChat account that needs to be frozen. You can choose to enter the WeChat ID or the mobile phone number, QQ number, or Email number associated with it.
• Authentication is performed through the following methods: QQ number, mobile phone number, bank card, face freezing (currently only supported by iOS client), and manual customer service appeal.

In addition to self-freezing, we can also ask friends for help in freezing. Friends can enter this function in "Me--Settings--Account--Help Friends Freeze WeChat" (currently only iOS client supports this function).

During the freezing process, you may encounter the following problems, please refer to the solutions here:

• The correct information was filled in during the verification process, but the system shows that it cannot be frozen - it is probably because a bad guy has changed the binding. In this case, it is recommended to try entering the WeChat account, or try to freeze it with the help of a friend.
• If one verification method doesn’t work, please continue to try other verification methods. If you still cannot freeze your account, please contact customer service to file a complaint (complaint, freezing and unfreezing customer service hotline: 0755-83765566).

After successfully freezing a WeChat account, we will be temporarily unable to use the account until it is unfrozen. However, the account information will not be deleted, and friends can still find you in the WeChat address book and send you WeChat messages.

How to restore normal use of your account

If we want to restore the original WeChat account after buying a new mobile phone number or renewing the card, we need to unfreeze the account while ensuring the security of the account. We can find this function on the WeChat Security Center webpage or by entering the WeChat Security Center from [More Options] at the bottom of the WeChat login page.

The unfreezing operation is basically the same as the freezing step above. It is worth noting that when unfreezing, you can only choose the security verification method used when freezing. For example, if you use face recognition to freeze, you can only choose face recognition to unfreeze. (If unfreezing fails, please contact customer service in time to complain.)

To protect your account, after successfully unfreezing it, please remember to enable “WeChat Account Protection” and remove the lost phone from the list of frequently used devices.

Mobile phones and WeChat have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. It is not enough to know how to stop losses in an emergency. If we develop a good habit of setting a mobile phone lock screen password and WeChat payment password, then even if the mobile phone is accidentally lost, our WeChat account will still be safe.