What to do if…
your laptop is stolen and it contains sensitive personal documents

What to do now

1. Get to a safer pause and write down the basics.
   Note the time last seen, place last seen, whether it was a work or personal laptop, and anything that identifies it, such as make, model, device name, or serial number. Check purchase emails or your device account if you do not have the serial number to hand.

2. Lock it, mark it as lost, or remotely erase it if that was already set up.
   Use the service linked to the laptop, such as Apple Find My, Microsoft Find My Device, Google account device controls, or your work IT portal. If erase is offered, it may only complete when the laptop next connects to the internet, so also remove account access where you can.

3. Secure your email account first.
   From a trusted phone or computer, change the email password, turn on two-step verification if it is not already on, and sign out of other sessions or devices. Check for unfamiliar forwarding rules, auto-replies, recovery email addresses, recovery phone numbers, and connected apps.

4. Secure the accounts that could cause fast harm.
   Prioritise banking, card accounts, payment services, your main cloud storage, your mobile provider account, and any password manager. Change passwords where needed, sign out other sessions where the service allows it, and review recent account activity.

5. If a password manager was on the laptop, follow its lost-device steps.
   Sign out the stolen device if possible, review trusted devices or sessions, and change the master password if the provider recommends or allows it. Change the passwords for your most important accounts first if you think the vault, browser, or device may have been unlocked.

6. Tell work, school, or the organisation responsible if their data may be on it.
   Use the official IT, security, or data-protection contact. They may be able to disable work access, trigger a managed wipe, preserve records, and decide whether any data-protection reporting is needed.

7. Report the theft and keep the reference number.
   If you are in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise report the stolen laptop through your local police force’s online route if available, or call 101. Keep the crime reference number for your insurer, employer, bank, or device provider.

8. If identity documents or financial papers were stored on it, add fraud friction.
   Watch bank and card accounts for unfamiliar activity, contact your bank immediately if anything looks wrong, and consider checking your credit files for searches or accounts you do not recognise. If scans of a passport, driving licence, bank statements, payslips, tax letters, or National Insurance details were on the laptop, you may also consider Cifas Protective Registration.

9. If fraud, impersonation, or cyber crime appears, report that separately.
   Report fraud or attempted fraud to Report Fraud, and keep any reference number. Also contact the affected bank, card provider, service, or organisation directly using contact details from their official website or app, not from a message sent to you.

10. Make a short “what was on it?” list while your memory is fresh.
    Include passport or driving licence scans, bank statements, payslips, tax letters, tenancy documents, medical letters, client or student information, saved passwords, browser sessions, cloud folders, and local backups. Use this list to decide what to secure next.