Had your phone nicked in London? Here's how to protect your data — and what to do to stay safe from thieves next time

Around 80,000 phones were stolen in London in 2024 according to the Met. It’s a problem on the rise, despite the efforts of the police. Whether you’ve had your phone nicked or want to reduce your risk, there are steps you can take to stay a bit safer.

You really can’t be too vigilant these days.

We'll kick off early with the simplest of tips: get off your phone! It’s worth making it less visible. Keep it in a pocket or sling bag against your body, especially when walking around or about to cross the road.

Criminals on bikes and scooters are responsible for loads of these thefts, so you’ll be less of a target if your phone isn’t out. Don’t leave it out over dinner or drinks either. It’s not worth the risk; thieves can grab it from a table in seconds or use distraction techniques.

“I had left my phone out on the table while in a busy fast food restaurant – a lady came over, held the menu over my phone and started pointing at items on the menu to distract me,” journalist Charley Ward, who had her phone nabbed, told me.

"The whole thing felt quite strange until I realised it was gone! I've been much more careful about leaving my phone out ever since."

At the risk of encouraging you to buy more tech, a smartwatch may help reduce your phone use. A wearable can handle your alerts and navigation without you needing to get out your handset.

If you want to be ready should the worst happen, though, start by being aware of what a thief will do right after a successful snatch. They’ll try to turn on airplane mode so you can’t remotely wipe the device.

Change the defaults to make it so Control Centre and any quick access controls can’t be accessed while the handset is locked. On an iPhone, you’re able to change this in Face ID & Passcode in the Settings menu. Disabling access to the Quick Settings panel varies between different Android devices, but remove airplane mode and internet connectivity controls from this area.

To help you stay safe, we sought some advice from Muhammad Yahya, a Helpline Responder at The Cyber Helpline. “The real value is the data and access on the device – not the device itself – as the criminals are targeting digital identity theft or a way to extort you,” Yahya said.

Thieves know they don’t have long after getting a phone. They’ll quickly try to reset bank passwords, move money, reset accounts using your email, find sensitive photos, and impersonate you on social media.

“A key mistake is not having a secure way to access passwords outside of what is stored on the phone. You will need to log into your accounts quickly on another device,” Yahya told me.

Must-have privacy settings on your iPhone

If you're using an Apple device, there are two key controls you need to enable on your iPhone. Firstly, make sure Find My is turned on. This enables "Activation Lock", which means the thief won’t be able to wipe or resell your handset. Savvy thieves will try to learn your device passcode before taking your phone, though, so I’d also recommend the further step of Apple's Stolen Device Protection.

This means that even if someone has sneaked a look at your passcode over your shoulder, they won’t be able to change it or disable it without your face unlock or fingerprint when your phone is away from a familiar location, like your home or work. Turn this on in Privacy & Security settings on your iPhone.

“When Stolen Device Protection is active, a thief cannot, for example, change your Apple Account password or device passcode,” Apple says. “This is because Face ID or Touch ID is required, so even if someone has your passcode, they cannot bypass these protections."

Safety controls on Android devices

The same logic applies to most Android phones. Check your device is visible in Google's Find Hub app. That’s what’ll allow you to remotely wipe your phone should it be grabbed.

I’d highly advise checking if your handset supports Theft Detection Lock – most should. This clever feature detects jerky, fast motion – like your phone being snatched – and auto-locks the device. Samsung phones offer anti-robbery features, like requiring biometric authentication when away from safe places, and a one-hour delay before changes to biometrics take effect.

Tips for both platforms

No matter the device, always set up a decent device passcode and biometric security, like face or fingerprint unlocking . A six-digit passcode is also far more secure than a four-digit one, because there are 100,000 possible combinations, as opposed to just 10,000 possibilities. Whatever you do, please avoid 123456 and 000000, though.

Turn off the ability to see previews of your messages from your lock screen. This may not seem like a big issue, but it’s going to increase the chance a thief can see any two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.

There are some general safety tips I’d suggest everyone tries to follow. Always create strong account passwords, store them safely in a password manager, and use a two-factor authentication app where possible, rather than opting to send the codes via SMS to your phone. 2FA is something you should have enabled on as many accounts as possible. The extra layer of security could help stop a thief from getting into precious accounts, even if they access the phone.

If you do lose your phone, your first action should be to go to either Apple Find My or the Google Find Hub (accessible via a web browser). From there, hit “Lost iPhone” or “Secure Device” immediately.

Then report it to the police, notify your bank, speak to your mobile network provider and change your social account passwords. In the sadly likely event you can’t get your phone back, you can now remotely wipe the phone from this stage, too. Don’t remove the nicked phone from Find My, though, as that’ll make it easier for the thieves to resell it.

“If your sole way to get access to passwords and security codes is via your phone, it will make recovering from that phone being stolen extremely difficult,” Yahya told us. “The real risk isn’t losing the device, it’s losing control of your accounts.”

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