Can I track stolen/lost iPhone 8 using IMEI number?

Tracking an iPhone using just the IMEI number is not something regular individuals can do.

The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is like a social security number for your phone — unique and important, but not some magical "find my phone" code you can casually punch into a website and voila, beep beep, your phone is on a map.

Here’s why:

• Cellular carriers and law enforcement agencies have special, secure access to carrier networks where they can locate a phone using IMEI data. Think of it like a VIP-only hallway at a concert — you need the right badge andthe right mission.
• Individuals? Nope. Even if you know the IMEI, you can't directly track your phone with it unless you have a badge, a warrant, and probably a very stern look.
• Online IMEI tracking websites claiming otherwise? 98% are scams, 2% are clickbait. Best case: you waste your time. Worst case: you lose your info.

What you can do as a mere mortal:

• Use Apple's Find My iPhone feature (requires it to have been set up beforehand).
• Report your IMEI to your carrier and ask them to block the device from being used on mobile networks — it's called a "blacklist." It's a little like putting a digital bounty on the phone so nobody can activate it.

In short:

If you're an everyday person thinking, "I’ll just IMEI my way to my lost iPhone," — that’s like saying you’ll teleport to Paris using only your Starbucks card. Not happening. 🚀

Most stolen iPhones are never recovered. Even if you had Find My enabled and it showed you a location, it would not be a Good Idea to go there to confront criminals in person yourself. You might lose a lot more than a phone!

You say this phone has been gone more than four years, since January 18, 2021. The time to look for a lost phone, or to give the police a "Find My location" of a stolen phone, would have been back then. By now, it's long gone.

• If you didn't have Find My enabled on it, whoever found it would have been able to reset it, put their own Apple ID on it, and "make your phone their own." Having your carrier blacklist the phone would make it useless as a phone for whoever has it now, but they'd still be able to able to use some of its functions.
• If it was passcode-locked, and was also protected by Find My, it would probably have been thrown away, or sold to a "reprocessing" facility which takes apart stolen iPhones for their parts.

Cherry5050 wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer. You think it’s worth a shot reaching out to the police to ask to track it after so long?

Try this: Using Find My to locate missing Apple devices - Apple Support

Probably your best bet.

Also make sure you stay in touch with the mall’s lost and found depart if she has one, maybe leave your name and email address with them, or number if you run a second device.