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

Britons are gearing up for the summer and events like Glastonbury and the Euros are just around the corner.

But criminals are also planning their own summer bonanza, as packed festivals, stadiums and pubs are ripe with opportunities to steal unassuming victims’ phones.

In the past, criminals would steal a phone to sell on for a quick profit – but today, they are more interested in using it to gain access to your bank account. 

Fraud experts are warning about the shoulder surfing scam sweeping the nation.  

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

They then steal the phone and are able to access the device, and any apps which have the same passcode. 

Here are five expert tips for how you can protect your money if your phone gets pickpocketed or your bank details get shoulder surfed.

1. Activate stolen device protection

Many people who have phones stolen believe their information will be safe if it is accessed via biometrics – such as their face or fingerprint. 

Sadly that is not the case. Armed with the phone’s passcode, the thief is usually able to disable those settings, or change the face or fingerprint to their own. 

Scam expert, Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, recently told This is Money about a new iPhone feature called stolen device protection, which users can opt in to. 

It means that when the phone is in an unfamiliar location (not the owner’s home or work) their credit cards can only be accessed using Face ID or Touch ID, and the user won’t be able to enter a password as a ‘fall back’ option.

An hour’s delay is also placed on certain actions such as changing the phone’s password, giving more time to report it as stolen.

To use stolen device protection, you need to have an iPhone with iOS 17.3 or later. Go to Settings > Face ID and passcode > Stolen device protection. 

2. Report it as stolen

If your phone contains banking apps or credentials, you should report it to your bank as soon as possible. 

Chris Ainsley, Santander’s head of fraud risk, explains: ‘We have specific procedures to follow in order to support customers in this scenario and protect their details.’ 

You also need to report it as stolen via the phone manufacturer as well as your network provider, so that the phone can be blocked and the handset wiped.

It could be useful to keep a note of your phone serial and IMEI numbers for reporting the loss. This will help with blocking the phone and marking it as stolen in case the criminal tries to sell it.

3. Set up multiple user profiles on your phone

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

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

He suggests having a main user account (e.g. ‘first name’) which can be used most of the time and has one passcode or fingerprint unlock. Then other user account (e.g. ‘private) could have a different passcode and your thumb print, for example.

This way, if your phone is stolen, chances are it’s the ‘first name’ user logged in and the ‘first name’ passcode that was shoulder surfed. 

It is unlikely the thieves will 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. Put 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 putting the Sim card into another device.  

You can stop them in their tracks by requiring that they enter a Pin to access your Sim card. 

For iPhones you can set a pin on your sim by going into Settings > Mobile data > Sims > Sim Pin.

For Android phones this will be in Settings > Connections > Sim manager.

Locked out: Make it harder for scammers to get into your phone by putting a Pin on the Sim

5. Turn off notifications for when your phone is locked

When frausdters steal a phone, they often have to enter a code sent to it in a text message in order to approve transfers of money or purchases. 

This is why it is a good idea to set your notifications, including texts, not to show a preview when your phone is locked. 

This will help if the criminal has stolen the phone from your hand while unlocked, and not noted down your passcode. 

Once they do allow the phone to lock, they won’t be able to view texts sent to your phone as a preview.