It may not be forgetfulness if you can't find your cellphone. Close to 70,000 devices were stolen in Canada in 2012, with more than 30,000 taken in Ontario.
Now, steps are being taken to try to get those numbers down.
Service providers and police have tips for consumers.
First, you should contact your cellphone provider so that the company can get the phone flagged. If it is found, they know whose it is and how to get it back to you.
Some smart phones also have tracking devices built in.
Providers are also offering insurance if a phone is lost or stolen and you pay a fee on your monthly bill for this service.
Police say you should also write down your phone’s serial number so that they can track it as well, and perhaps identify a thief.
“Quite often when phones are stolen they'll be pawned or advertised on Kijiji. So if we have a serial number, quite often we can return it to the owner, first of all, and potentially identify a suspect in the theft,” says London police Const. Alanna Hollywood.
David Davies has had his cellphone stolen three times.
Twice he found his phone by tracking it, but the third time, he was out of luck.
“I was really hurt, and distraught and pretty much my personal life is just gone,” he says.
Cellphone theft is going down, though, as more consumers take steps to protect their phones.
