One In Four UK Consumers Have Fallen Victims To Smartphone Thieves

Almost a quarter of UK smartphone owners have had their device stolen at some point, according to a survey by mobile security vendor Lookout.

The researchers compared attitudes towards mobile device theft in the UK, France and Germany, and found that today’s pickpockets are more likely to steal a smartphone than a wallet. This could have serious consequences for businesses, since one in ten theft victims report loss of confidential company data.

Researchers also discovered that while having a much smaller market share than Android in the UK, Apple’s iPhones were a big favourite with local criminals.

Easy prey

According to Lookout, 23 percent of Britons experienced smartphone theft, and four percent had their tablet stolen sometime in the past. In the UK, mobile devices were most likely to disappear out of a pocket or a handbag in bars, pubs or nightclubs, with almost a quarter going missing while their owner was having a tipple.

The situation is very different in France, where most smartphones were stolen while their owner was using public transport.

The peak time for pickpockets across all three countries is afternoon, 12pm to 5pm – 37 percent of all lost smartphones go missing during these hours.

In the UK, 39 percent of stolen phones are iPhones, significantly more than Android with 24 percent. That’s despite Android enjoying a 59.5 percent market share in Blighty, twice that of iOS.

78 percent of UK consumers say they hadn’t noticed the absence of the device within an hour – something that Lookout refers to as the ‘golden hour’ since it could give criminals time to neutralise anti-theft or remote wiping software.

And yet, the vast majority of victims would be willing to put themselves in some amount of danger to retrieve a stolen device and the personal information it carries. 89 percent of Germans say they would go after the thief if they had the chance, followed by the British (71 percent) and French (68 percent).

The loss of a smartphone can have serious consequences – according to the survey, one in ten theft victims report loss of confidential company data, 11 percent experience identity theft, and nine percent become victims of financial fraud.

“While there isn’t one single solution that is going to alleviate phone theft, the problem can be stifled with industry collaboration, technology, and widespread awareness for how to stay safe,” said Lookout in a statement.

The company advises smartphone owners to keep their device in a safe place, protect it with a PIN or password and install a phone tracking or remote wipe application. If the worst has happened, the incident should be reported to the police, providing them with as much information as possible – even if they can’t get your prized possession back, they can make it really difficult to use and resell a stolen device.

In the US, manufacturers and operators have recently agreed to include a “baseline anti-theft tool” or ‘kill switch’ into smartphones sold in the country in an effort to deter would-be thieves from stealing mobile devices. A similar mechanism has been introduced in some smartphones sold outside the US on a voluntary basis.

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