To think we will have to leave our phones at home

[Pippy2022]

Fraud and phone theft is becoming such a problem I think it will reach a point where it's safer to leave the smart phone at home, certainly when visiting a city like London.

Maybe smart phones will become such a risk - as in our lives are on them - we will stop using them and revert to bricks? Use tablets at home etc.

Live in central London. Use phone too much .
have not been robbed.

But I don’t stand on the kerb waving it about.

Millions of Londoners carry a smart phone every day without falling victim to theft or fraud. Don't be ridiculous.

I have never used a banking apps on phone, I have no need to bank and do bank tasks when I am out, all the apps are on my iPad which is at home or I use desktop banking on my iMac. What sort of banking does one do when out generally unless buying something specific like a car for example.

This.
If you go out in London you will see 10million people walking around with phones in their hands - on calls, texting, using maps, taking photos. The statistics for theft of phones is actually tiny considering how many are on constant display.

Rubbish. Utter rubbish.

For those who don’t use phone maps or e-tickets well good for you but a lot of advance tickets automatically are e-tickets unless you buy them at the station but realistically speaking I’m not going to travel to my train station and stand in a queue to purchase a ticket when I can get it online. That’s not an efficient use of my time.

As someone who is ND, and struggles with organisation and directions phones are massively helpful to me for so many reasons and sometimes it’s security related. For instance Monzo app notifies me each time my card has been used. When I only had internet banking to use on my computer I’d forget to check statements etc a lot. Like many ND people out of sight is out of mind!

I’ve found it much easier to organise my money, keep track of what invoices have been paid and keep a track of other things using my smartphone.

I don’t drive and one day I ended up in Stockport at midnight coming back from London thanks to a series of delays (thanks British trains!) the thing is- I don’t live in Stockport but the trains had decided we were all getting off there 😂

I had to either get a bus replacement service that took 60 minutes to get me to my train station and I’d have to then Walk in the dark at 1am to get home OR use my Uber app and get a ride home for a decent amount, I chose the latter and I’m glad I did!

I do get there is a problem with overuse of them and we do need to take some precautions, but there are also valid reasons why most people will not just leave them at home.

This is going in everyone's stocking!
Just makes sense-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ringke-Holder-Link-Strap-Adjustable/dp/B0BMQTG567/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1RDVFY76EMS1O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kBcYeoNzQDqS2WmooDuNzO5gDlEJ5OZlgKfK8t3PUPQGdDJtuBU4H3kZ47jvSD7OxokXEwMfq3dc0sRfaUGfeAULy4LQYwPO0uaJpH5bPh3d6iF2yJ3FtUGvZ3hxQO8NFV6RNHa2KD1MTbNfWDujgiBA7Thhkd6O-9NFRXrgkCKC97bhR_HUHUmCnh1juUam6P3-T20U-AH6d-WcrO_6zrrH410KwH23BxYOge_1kXA.nGSXpwr6I28XY1dOVmKRf4v6uLISvp20Ftfqn5xSplU&dib_tag=se&keywords=Ringke+Holder+Link+Strap+with+Black+Nylon+Tag%2C+Adjustable+Crossbody+Phone+Lanyard+Strap+Compatible+with+Universal+Smartphones+and+Cases&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1734096900&sprefix=ringke+holder+link+strap+with+black+nylon+tag+adjustable+crossbody+phone+lanyard+strap+compatible+with+universal+smartphones+and+cases%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-3

Does anyone have a link as to HOW the thieves are accessing the banking apps etc on your phone if it's stolen? I've always assumed they'd be safe as all face ID/PIN protected but seems they're managing to by pass it somehow but the news article doesn't explain how.

Id advise no one to buy from that link 46 reviews and all the latest ones says it is crap and the strap breaks. 🙄

Either you sell these or you really need to look at the links you post.

Omg I read the reviews and only saw good ones and didn't read down far enough

off to check/cancel

I've personally always assumed people lie about how secure their phone is. But perhaps I am wrong.

That represents 1% of the London population annually.

All products will have some bad reviews but this one has overwhelmingly good reviews and a lot of them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0CRDG2692/ref=cm_cr_unknown?filterByStar=five_star&pageNumber=1

I wouldn't have thought you could even switch off any form of PIN/face ID/finger print on the banking apps? I can't set up new payments without similar or them confirming my face etc. but seems thieves are stealing phones and then managing to drain everyone's accounts.

🙄🙄

My daughter has had her phone stolen in central London. It was taken from her pocket while she was in a shop. She also had an attempted snatch by someone on a bike. Luckily the phone got stuck in her coat. The person on the bike actually stopped and turn around to look at her before driving off. She was quite frightened and she is very wary of going to Oxford Street. She now uses wireless earphones with her mobile.

I've just checked, and I can turn everything but the passcode off on my main bank. So I suppose an unlocked phone, and an easy to guess passcode it would be easy.
I'm personally not buying that phone thieves are using sophisticated hacking tech speculatively. But maybe they are.

So given that the daytime population of London is 10m+, there's a 0.0027% chance of getting your phone stolen on any one day. So you would expect to have a phone stolen every 37,313 day (once every 102 years) if you were to spend everyday in London. I am not losing any sleep over it.

Very informative link, its a deep dive page. So dont worry its daily fail.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14165053/How-stolen-phone-ends-Chinas-Silicon-Valley.html

Eh, I just have a Nokia flip phone for talking on the phone whilst out and about in London, and an Ipad with the bank details on it that stays at home. If someone wants my old flip phone, they can have at it. There are just a few numbers in the contacts. I just won’t stare at my phone for hours and hours…some of is people aren’t aware of their surroundings as the phone has all their attention.

No they aren't. As I said in a previous post, more and more apps now require a fingerprint or iris scan to get into and some require 2FA as well.

YABVU. I live in London and I've been absolutely fine. I don't keep thousands of pounds in my current account, my savings are separate or in investments. Not easily accessible and definitely take 24+ hrs to access. I have cash in my account and yes I'd be very upset if it was stolen but it's not a life ruining event.

I know two people who had their phones stolen in London, both had them sticking out of their back pockets 🤷‍♀️ both were visitors, funnily enough, I think tourists are targeted and stick out. This is why when I go abroad I change my behaviour and how I carry and store my phone (and cash actually) because I know tourists will be targeted.

Before smart phones people's handbags, purses and wallets were stolen and you never saw that cash again in most cases. Don't act like this is a new phenomenon.

People need to be more careful and be more alert. People walk into others because they're not looking where they're going, walk across the road without looking, walk about with earphones in and the sound so loud they've lost a sense, how more phones aren't nicked out of back pockets I've no idea.

It's easily sorted by not giving thieves an opportunity.

Amongst many other dubious claims

Why is OP talking rubbish? Is it because she doesn't have a banking app or visit banks? 🤔I've never had a banking app and don't want one. I don't go to the bank either, everything is done on my Chrome book with banking stuff, cash transfers etc. I use a debit card and when I'm out near an atm draw cash or go to the nearest post office and get it from there.
Why is that so diificult to understand?