Cell phone theft: what criminals do with their phones today and how to prevent them from emptying your accounts

Cell phone theft already represents 27% of crimes in Argentina; whether it’s robberies, thefts or losing your phone. Given the growing use of mobile devices, which affects everyone from children to the elderly, cyber criminals Now they put the emphasis information which is stored there.

According to the “Mobile phone theft” report by BTR Consulting, some In AMBA, 9,000 cell phones are stolen per daythat is, between approximately 300 and 400 thefts per hour.

IT security specialists explain it in this context Phone thieves often bypass security checks.

although the buying and selling stolen phones is commonplace, criminals now try to “break into” a user’s phone bypassing a PIN and a facial recognition mechanism to access profiles in other applications ea defraud new victims.

New forms of cybercrime from cell phone theft

After stealing a victim’s savings, scammers can wreak havoc access digital accounts. They do it all the way password reset for commonly used banking, investment and crypto platforms and waiting for the OTP (One-Step Authentication) to be sent to the stolen phone.

With the code sent to the stolen phone, cybercriminals can Easily reset your account password and gain full control.

“In some countries the circle of criminal methods is closed with the use of sim swap technique. “Criminals use the PIN to unlock the victim’s phone and then try the same code to access other banking applications, wallets, e-commerce… They look for banking passwords in the phone’s notes,” says Gabriel Zurdo, CEO of BTR Consulting .

There are resources and tools to deactivate devices using IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity), which is a 15-digit code pre-registered by the manufacturer to identify each mobile device. However, measures in this sense do not work.

“Unfortunately, many people have also lost their phones or have had their devices stolen They had money stolen from their Mercado Pago accounts. In many cases, even cyber criminals They applied for a loan in the victim’s name from the app. In 2022, in countries like Argentina, a large number of complaints have been recorded from people who first had their phone stolen and then emptied their digital wallet,” commented Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, head of the ESET Laboratory Latin America.

To prevent a thief from having access to money or private data (emails, chat conversations, photos, videos or audio) that could be used to carry out virtual scams, users must follow a series of steps and thus protect everything their heritage.

Mateo Sauton, CTO of the virtual wallet n1u, recommends in principle enable additional authentication factors. “This is very useful in cases where a third party wants to access our phone. Many banks and online shopping platforms allow you to enable the option of a second authentication factor, based on a one-time code: token, fingerprint or facial recognition“he clarifies.

As for the contents stored on your mobile phone, create a backup copy, in your Gmail account, iCloud (if you have an iPhone) or an external cloud. There your photos, files, documents and videos will be protected from third parties. Companies that provide this type of service are responsible for the physical safety of all the information.

Step by step, what to do if your cell phone is stolen

If you are a victim of phone theft, first of all you need to do it Go to a police station and file a complaint corresponding.

Then, the user must contact the mobile phone provider (Personal, Movistar or Claro) to request the cancellation of the SIM card on which the line number is registered and ask for IMEI blocka 15-digit code pre-registered by the manufacturer to identify each mobile device.

If you are a Movistar customer, the procedure is as follows: call *611 from a company line or *910 if the communication takes place from a Claro or Personal mobile phone. If made from a landline the number to contact is 0800-321-0611

If you request suspension of a Personal line, the landline call will be to 0800 444 0800, *111 from a company mobile or *910 from any company mobile.

As clarified by Personal, the management must be provided with the report of the incident to the Police and the relevant document. Finally, you will have to go to a Personal Store to replace the SIM with your ID and file a police report.

If you have a virtual wallet on your device, you must always have it I enable dual-factor authentication and different keys, the specialists underlined.

And finally, they recommend it enable remote device wipe in order to protect the data and thus avoid any type of identity fraud.