Lost phone · United Arab Emirates
Lost or stolen phone in United Arab Emirates: the numbers that still work.
In United Arab Emirates, police answer on 999, and there's a separate tourist-assistance line (+971 4 609 6239) staffed for visitors - both are on this page.Your phone is gone and you're holding a borrowed one, so everything here dials from any handset - no apps, no account, every number a tap-to-call link. Work top to bottom.
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · compiled from official sources listed below
Emergency numbers
Reporting it to the police
For a non-emergency phone theft, contact the Tourist Police rather than 999. Dubai Tourist Police can be reached at +971 4 609 6239 (and the tourism hotline 800 4438 within the UAE); Abu Dhabi Tourism Police is +971 2 800 2626. You can also file via the Dubai Police app. Report the loss to your carrier to bar the SIM and block the IMEI (TDRA requires blocking within 24 hours).
- Tourist assistance line: +971 4 609 6239
- Report online: https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visiting-and-exploring-the-uae/emergency-help-for-tourists-in-the-uae
Blocking your SIM
These are United Arab Emirates's carriers - use them if your number is local. If your SIM is from your home country, call your own carrier's lost-phone line instead; nobody here can block a foreign SIM.
| Carrier | Lost-phone line | Official page |
|---|---|---|
| e& (Etisalat) | domestic lines only - see notes | Block online ↗ |
| Dial 101 for 24/7 customer care to bar a lost/stolen SIM or block the IMEI; SIMs are also blockable via the e& app/website. A widely-cited from-abroad number (+971 800 2300) was not confirmable on an official e& page. | ||
| du | domestic lines only - see notes | Block online ↗ |
| Dial 155 from a du line (or 800 155 from other UAE networks) and choose 'Block lost or stolen SIM'. Lost-SIM blocking is also available online. No official +971 from-abroad number confirmed. | ||
| Virgin Mobile UAE | +971 800165 works from abroad | Block online ↗ |
| Call 800165 within the UAE or 00971800165 from outside the UAE; a lost SIM can also be blocked in-app via 'BLOCK MY SIM'. (Virgin Mobile is an MVNO on the e& network - included as the third consumer brand.) | ||
Your embassy
If your passport went with the phone, your embassy or consulate issues the emergency travel document - the local police can't. The official directory of foreign missions in United Arab Emirates is here: find your embassy ↗. Bring the police report from the step above.
Getting back online
Tourist prepaid SIMs and eSIMs are activated against your passport and UAE entry stamp (no Emirates ID needed); a maximum of two SIMs per passport applies across providers. e& offers an instant visitor eSIM with free data self-activated after immigration.
Sources
- https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visiting-and-exploring-the-uae/emergency-help-for-tourists-in-the-uae
- https://www.etisalat.ae/en/contact_us.html
- https://support.etisalat.ae/en/personal/telephone_getting_a_phone-line.jsp
- http://www.du.ae/du-contactus
- https://www.virginmobile.ae/help/how-can-i-contact-virgin-mobile/
- https://www.virginmobile.ae/help/deactivate-lost-sim/
- https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/missions/foreign-missions-in-uae
- https://www.eand.ae/visitorline.html
Next time, don't go hunting for this page.
These numbers plus your own - your person, your bank's freeze line, your insurer - on one encrypted page you can open from any borrowed browser with just your name and a PIN.
Create my recovery page