Five things you need to do to protect your money if your phone is stolen

• Experts are predicting a wave of phone thefts at summer events such as festivals and the Euros
• Five tech tricks to make sure they don’t get their hands on YOUR money

Brits are gearing up for summer, with events like Glastonbury and the Euros just around the corner.

But criminals are also planning their own summer bonanza, as packed festivals, stadiums and pubs are ripe for opportunities to steal the phones of unsuspecting victims.

In the past, criminals stole your phone to sell it for a quick profit – but today they’re more interested in using it to gain access to your bank account.

Fraud experts are warning of a shoulder surfing scam that has taken the country by storm.

This is where criminals hover behind people in busy places like bars and watch them enter their phone’s passcode.

They then steal the phone and have access to the device and all apps that have the same passcode.

Here are five expert tips on how you can protect your money in the event that your phone is stolen or your bank details are stolen.

1. Activate the protection of the stolen device

Many people who have had their phones stolen believe that their information will be safe if they access it through biometrics – such as their face or fingerprint.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Armed with the phone’s passcode, a thief is usually able to disable these settings or change the face or fingerprint to their own.

Fraud expert Jake Moore, Global Cyber ​​Security Advisor at ESET, recently told This is Money about a new iPhone feature called anti-stolen device that users can opt-in to.

This means that when the phone is in an unknown location (not at the owner’s home or work), its credit cards can only be accessed using Face ID or Touch ID, and the user will not be able to enter a password as a “backup”. ‘ option.

There is also an hour delay for some actions, such as changing the phone’s password, which gives more time to report the phone as stolen.

To use Stolen Device Protection, you must have an iPhone with iOS 17.3 or later. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Stolen Device Protection.

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2. Report it as stolen

If your phone contains banking apps or login information, you should report this to your bank as soon as possible.

Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk at Santander, explains: “We have specific procedures in place to support customers in this scenario and protect their data.”

You must also report it as stolen through your phone manufacturer and network provider to block the phone and wipe the handset.

It might be helpful to note the phone’s serial number and IMEI number to report the loss. This will help lock the phone and mark it as stolen in case a criminal tries to sell it.

3. Set up multiple user profiles on your phone

Reader Ben emailed us with another helpful tip that could help Android users hide their banking apps from criminals.

Android phones allow multiple user profiles. This could allow you to ‘hide’ your banking apps in a second version of your home screen that is only used occasionally – reducing the risk of a criminal seeing you open.

He suggests having a main user account (eg ‘first name’) that can be used most of the time and has a single passcode or fingerprint unlock. Then another user account (eg ‘private’) can have a different access code and eg your thumbprint.

That way, if your phone is stolen, chances are it’s the “first name” logged in user and the “first name” passcode that’s been shoulder scanned.

Thieves are unlikely to be aware of the second profile where your banking apps are, and this could buy you some time while you report your phone as stolen.

4. Place a pin on your Sim

If a fraudster can’t get into your phone, they can still access a lot of your information by simply inserting the SIM card into another device.

You can stop them in their tracks by requiring a PIN to access your SIM card.

For iPhones, you can set a PIN on your SIM card in Settings > Cellular data > Sims > SIM PIN.

For Android phones, this will be in Settings > Connections > SIM Manager.

5. Turn off the locked phone notification

When fraudsters steal a phone, they often have to enter a code sent to them in a text message in order to authorize money transfers or purchases.

Therefore, it is a good idea to set notifications, including texts, so that the preview is not displayed when the phone is locked.

This helps if a criminal stole the phone from your hand while it was unlocked and didn’t record your passcode.

Once they enable phone lock, they won’t be able to preview texts sent to your phone.

Shoulder surfing: What to watch out for

Shoulder surfing is a technique criminals use to obtain PINs and other personal information by watching over someone’s shoulder as they use an ATM or card machine or publicly log into mobile banking.

The criminal then steals the card or device using distraction or pickpocketing techniques.

1. Make sure you have different PIN codes for your card than those used to access your phone and any mobile banking apps.

2. Be aware of your surroundings and make sure you’re not trying to log into mobile banking in a place where people might glance at your screen – especially if you’re in a crowded place like on public transport.

It is also quite possible that they will see your screen in the reflection of the windows of buses and trains, for example, so be extra careful.

3. Consider enabling biometric authentication, which requires your fingerprint or facial recognition to access your device and, increasingly, your mobile banking.

This way, your PIN or password cannot be remembered by someone looking over your shoulder.