Terms of Use

A free community service

PhoneWatch is a free community site in Nigeria. You can report a stolen phone, search an IMEI, mark a phone as recovered or post a found phone without payment or a public account. By submitting information or searching, you agree to these terms. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your data.

Post true information only

No false reports or fake posts. Submit only information you honestly believe is true and that you have permission to share. Do not use someone else's IMEI, photos or contact details to mislead, harass, threaten or impersonate them. Do not publish sensitive documents, unlawful content or unrelated personal information. If you recover your phone, update its status using your IMEI and recovery code.

You allow PhoneWatch to store and display your submission for the community service, as described in the Privacy Policy. You remain responsible for what you submit.

Reports are not verified

User-submitted information is not verified by PhoneWatch. A report is not proof that someone stole a phone, and a found-phone post is not proof of ownership. A search with no result does not guarantee a phone is not stolen. Check ownership and purchase documents carefully. We cannot guarantee accuracy, availability or recovery of a phone.

Stay safe and contact the police

PhoneWatch is not the police and cannot investigate crimes or settle ownership disputes. Users must never confront anyone over a phone. Report suspected theft or criminal activity to the police. Only hand over a phone after the owner proves it is theirs, and meet in a public place. Do not send money, recovery codes or sensitive documents to an unverified person.

Contact details and respectful use

Contact details are shown only when someone clicks “Contact Owner” after searching the exact reported IMEI, or “Contact Finder” on a found-phone post. Those buttons do not verify the visitor's identity. Use revealed details only for a genuine enquiry about the phone. Do not collect contacts for spam, publish them elsewhere or harass anyone.

Removal and deletion requests

We may delete any post at any time, including false, fake, unsafe or outdated posts. You can ask for a post to be deleted or report a concern through the Contact page. Tell us which post or report you mean and why you are contacting us. We may need to confirm your connection to the information before acting.

Privacy, cookies and third-party ads

We collect reports, found-phone posts, photos, contact details, IMEI searches and, with acceptance, analytics. We follow the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 when handling personal information. The Privacy Policy explains your rights and our use of cookies and Google Analytics. Analytics loads only after you choose Accept.

The site may carry third-party advertisements, including Google AdSense. An ad is not a PhoneWatch endorsement or guarantee. Advertisers and external services are responsible for their own offers and policies. Take care before following links or making payments. AdSense is subject to separate setup and applicable consent requirements.

Marketplace and notifications

PhoneWatch is only a listing board for secondhand phones. We handle no payments or delivery and are not responsible for deals between buyers and sellers, except where the law requires otherwise. We may remove any listing. Listings expire 14 days after approval; repost if unsold.

We store Marketplace phone details, price, description, location, two photos and seller contact details. The full optional IMEI is checked against stolen reports and is not stored with the listing; only its last four digits and check status are public. Seller contact details appear only after someone clicks Contact Seller. An IMEI checked badge is not proof of ownership.

If you choose notifications, we store your browser push subscription, including its delivery address and encryption keys, to send alerts when new phones are approved. You can turn notifications off in your browser settings. We remove subscriptions when the delivery service says they are no longer valid. Your chosen city and state, cookie preference and home-screen banner choice are stored in your browser.

Browse the Marketplace or use the Contact page to ask for deletion.

Responsibility and changes

Use PhoneWatch responsibly and lawfully. We are not responsible for user-submitted claims or arrangements made between visitors, except where Nigerian law requires otherwise. These terms do not remove rights or responsibilities that cannot legally be excluded.

We may update these terms or change the service. The last-update date appears at the top of this page. Check these terms again when using the site.