Crime Prevention Advice – Protecting your Mobile Phone

Crime Prevention Advice – Protecting your Mobile Phone

Dear residents,

Here are some tips on how to protect yourself from mobile phone theft, and how to set your phone up to avoid further loss if it’s stolen.

How thieves target you

To help keep your handset and data safe, follow these tips:

Avoid leaving your phone unattended, out of your sight, or left on a table. Thieves can grab a phone from a table in seconds or can distract you to take it.

Keep an eye on who’s around you when using your phone in public. Thieves use ‘shoulder-surfing’ (looking over your shoulder) to watch or film you entering passcodes or see your data.

Avoid entering personal information in a public space, and wherever possible, use biometric authentication, such as Face ID or Fingerprint, to access your phone and sensitive apps rather than passcodes.

Never give your phone to people you don’t know or have only just met. Thieves may ask to borrow your phone or offer to enter their number. Don’t let them

Put your phone away when you’ve finished using it.

Securing your phone in case it's stolen

If your phone is not well protected and it gets stolen or lost, thieves could access your banking apps, get into personal accounts, and even steal your identity.

Consider whether apps containing sensitive personal information, such as banking apps, need to be on your phone at all. Some may be better kept on a tablet or other device that you don't routinely carry with you.

Use your phone’s locking feature

Choose a strong PIN, passcode, password, or pattern, or use biometric authentication, such as Face ID or Fingerprint. Passwords are harder to 'shoulder-surf' than short PIN codes.

Set the auto-lock to activate itself after a short period of time.

Get your IMEI number

Your phone's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number can help identify your phone if it’s lost or stolen. You can get the IMEI number by typing *#06# on your phone keypad. Keep a note of it somewhere other than on your phone.

Keep your software regularly updated

This will make sure both your device and apps have the latest security settings. You can set your phone to auto update in the settings menu.

Use a tracking app

You could consider setting up a tracking app on your phone so you can see where it is from another device like a laptop. Use it as soon as possible, before thieves have a chance to disable it.

If your phone is stolen

Your personal data may be at risk. It's important you act fast.

Report the crime to us as soon as you can.

If you’ve been hurt, feel unsafe or the crime has only just happened, call 999.

You can also report the crime to us online. Or call 101 for non-emergencies.

Include details of your device (such as the IMEI number) in your report as well as any fraudulent transactions.

You should:

block your phone using another device. You can use ‘Remote Lock’ on Android (this needs to be activated in your settings first) or ‘Lost Mode’ on iPhone

contact any banks and other financial providers so they can cancel or freeze any accounts linked to your phone

change passwords for any sensitive apps or accounts that are on your phone. You should do this for your email, social media and banking apps first

force all devices and applications to log out of your accounts and
notify your phone provider so that 2SV messages don’t get sent to your number. You should also give them your IMEI number so they can block your device

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Message Sent By
Omar Fikri
(Police, PCSO, STAMFORD HILL WEST SNT)