How to Prevent Mobile Phone Theft

Smartphones are becoming smaller, more expensive and generally more awesome. However, this comes at a price – as attractive as these devices are to consumers, they’re equally as alluring to thieves, and while mobile phone theft rates have dropped in Australia over the last few years, it’s still an extremely common crime.

Phones make an ideal target for petty criminals – they’re small and light, are expensive even when sold second-hand, almost everybody has one (and carries them around with them) and are easily hidden once snatched. They’re also extremely easy to dispose of, being part of a market with high turnover rates due to constantly changing technology. People upgrade their phones at least every few years so there’s always a market for second-hand phones in good condition – especially considering the high price of new models. Criminals may find passing on a stolen phone as easy as advertising on Gumtree, eBay or Craigslist.

Unfortunately, the popularity of smartphones creates new risks for users and new reasons to seek out phones for criminals. Rather than looking to resell stolen phones for profit, many thieves target smartphones in the hopes of accessing sensitive personal data. Many of us use our phones to do banking, pay bills, and manage our email and social networking accounts, and the potential for financial and identity theft is all too real if that phone should fall into the wrong hands.

So without wanting to cause panic, it’s important for phone owners – especially those of us with higher-end devices – to be aware of the dangers and take the necessary precautions. Losing your phone or having it stolen can be an upsetting and stressful experience, and it’s especially frustrating if you rely on your phone to run your life.

Precautions to safeguard your phone

• Record the details of your phone in order to easily identify it if it ever does go missing. Write down the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, your phone number (obviously), the make and model, colour and general appearance (any phone cases, scratches and marks, or personalisation), and the phone’s PIN or security lock. To find the IMEI, you can dial *#06# and the 15-digit number will appear on your screen. Or, lift the back cover; it should be written behind the battery.
• Marking your phone and its battery with an ultra-violet pen is another way to prove ownership if it goes missing. We don’t recommend writing a name or address, but your email or work phone number can both prove the device is yours and, in the event of it being picked up by a good Samaritan, provide a way to get in touch with you and send your phone home safe. Writing your driver’s license number and state will also make it easy for you to be tracked down by police.
• Make use of your phone’s option to lock the home screen with a PIN or code. It may mean a few seconds of hassle when you go to use your device, but it will offer some protection against thieves accessing your personal data or being able to make calls that will end up on your monthly bill.
• On the subject of setting a PIN or passcode – you may not need reminding, but don’t make it easily guessable. So no birthdays, ‘1234’ or ‘6969’.
• Install security software, such as Cerberus for Android or Find my iPhone for iOS, which will allow you to track and locate your missing phone and protect your personal data (more on this below).

Ways to prevent theft

• Common sense: don’t leave it in a position where it can be stolen in the first place. When not in use, keep your phone stored securely in a zippered bag or front pocket. Guys, don’t put it in your back jeans pocket – believe it or not, it’s easy for skilled pickpockets to remove items from rear pockets, and it can always fall out of its own accord. And if you keep your phone in your handbag, try to keep it in a zippered internal compartment, and always keep your bag closed even when carrying it with you.
• Be extra cautious at high-risk events such as nightclubs, concerts and festivals, where close contact with people is unavoidable. These types of places are also usually dark, noisy and full of intoxicated patrons – so ideal places for opportunistic thieves to look for easy targets.
• Close to 20% of stolen phones are snatched from the owner’s hands or pockets – so it pays to be vigilant when out in public. If you’re engrossed in your phone and holding it in your hands when you walk, it’s easy for someone to grab it as they run or cycle past. If you must use your phone in public, do it in a busy, well-lit place and be aware of the people around you. Place it immediately back in a bag or pocket when you’re done, and don’t use it to kill time when waiting for public transport – bus stops and train stations are high-risk areas.
• iPhones are as popular with thieves as they are with consumers, and your Apple-branded white headphones are a dead giveaway as to what phone is in your hand or pocket. Switching the earbuds for a less recognisable set of headphones could reduce your risk. And while we’re on the subject, listening to music in public makes you distracted, unable to hear people coming up behind you and generally makes you a much easier target. If you can't bear to be parted from your headphones, keep the volume low and your head up.
• Avoid leaving your phone in a vehicle, even when the car is locked – if you must leave it behind, stash it in the glove box or sitting on the seat in full view of passers-by.

What to do if your phone is lost or stolen

• If you know for sure that someone has made off with your device intentionally, inform the police immediately and file a report. The sooner they are made aware, the greater the odds are you’ll get it back (although, realistically, you should accept that it may be gone for good). And filing a report straight after the incident occurred makes it much less likely you’ll be held accountable for any fraudulent calls made. Insurance companies will also normally request a police report before you can claim for a stolen phone.
• Next step – report the loss or theft to your network operator and ask them to shut off your service and disable the phone from being used on ANY network within Australia. They can definitely do this for you on the spot. This will prevent the phone not only being used and billed to your account, but means it’s useless even with another SIM card inserted.
• Make sure you record details of the person/people you speak to when requesting your phone is blocked, as well as the date and time and what was done for you, so you can confirm when you informed your provider of the loss in the event that fraudulent calls are made.
• The good news is if you phone does finds its way back to you, you can request an unblock. There were around 180,000 phones blocked in Australia in 2012, and of these around 50,000 were returned and unblocked.
• One important thing to remember about blocking: Australian providers can only stop your phone being used by other carriers within Australia. So if you lose your phone overseas, you’ll still need to cancel your service, but remember that thieves can insert international SIM cards and use your phone on another country’s carrier.
• If you have phone insurance, contact your insurance provider and inform them of the theft. You may need to provide a copy of the police report in order for your claim to be processed.
• Aside from informing your provider and filing a police report, there are several other things you should do to protect the information stored on your missing device. If you’ve installed an app to locate your missing phone, use it! If you find your phone's location, inform the police; don't attempt to retrieve the phone yourself if it's in somebody's house or on their person.
• If you use your phone to access email, online banking, social networking, or anything else that you don’t want strangers being able to access, go online and change all of your passwords immediately. Even if you've set a passcode to unlock your phone, it still pays to be vigilant. If you use apps such as Facebook that don’t require you to login each time you access it, consider logging out whenever you've finished using it. It can be a hassle to re-enter your login details every time you open the app, but may be safer than leaving it open and vulnerable.

Security applications for your phone

There are a number of applications available for smartphones across all platforms, designed to track and recover your phone if it’s lost or stolen and protect your personal information. Most of these use GPS in order to pinpoint a missing device’s location and track its movements. For iPhones, Apple’s official Find my iPhone app will show users their phone’s location on a map, allows owners to send and display a message on the phone’s locked screen, remotely lock or wipe their device, and can set off a loud alarm that will ring even with the sound switched off.

For Android users, the Cerberus app does all of the above, although it isn’t free to download like Find my iPhone. Windows Phone users can go to the ‘My Phone’ section of windowsphone.com and from there are able to track, locate, remotely lock or wipe their phone and set off a loud ringing alarm.

There are many other apps purporting to do the same thing, with varying degrees of success. Some will even automatically take a photograph of whoever has your phone with its front-facing camera when they attempt to unlock it, and send the pic to your nominated email address. Of course, this doesn’t actually prove that the unfortunate person snapped actually stole the phone – they could very well have found it and be legitimately trying to find contact info for its rightful owner.

The good news is, mobile phone theft in Australia is decreasing. Despite more and more people owning phones, requests to block stolen devices have gone down almost 25% since 2004. Perhaps this can be attributed to the blocking initiative spearheaded by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, which essentially reduces once-working phones to bricks as soon as they’re reported missing. Knowing there’s a high chance the phone they’ve snatched won’t be working by the time they resell it may act as a deterrent for would-be thieves.

Still, that’s no reason to become complacent. If your phone is essential for running your personal or business life, too expensive to be easily replaced, or contains important personal information that you want to keep private, you can take the precautions listed above to keep your device safe. It still doesn’t guarantee you won’t drunkenly leave your phone behind in a taxi – but at least it may increase your odds of tracking it down again when the hangover lifts.

Tara Donnelly

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