Phone theft problem

[skaertus]

I live in Brazil and we have an escalating problem of phone thefts. Last week I was walking down the street and a guy in a bike trying to snatch my phone out of my hands, but he missed it and continued riding. Yesterday, a friend of mine had his phone stolen, also by a guy on a bike.

These kinds of phone theft have become increasingly common here in São Paulo, where I live. From January to July, there have been 160,000 phone thefts reported in the whole State of São Paulo (which account for 46.6 million people), but, although there are no statistics yet, these numbers are estimated to have much increased in August and September.

Phone thefts have been a problem for some time now, especially because these devices are very expensive here in Brazil (a 128 GB iPhone 13 costs some $1,500). But now thieves will not settle with just having the device: they want information stored in it, especially access to bank accounts. There are multiple reports of money transferred by thieves. My friend who has stoled yesterday said that the thieves were able to crack the biometrics of his phone (he had a Samsung Galaxy S20+) and transferred a significant amount of money from his bank accounts. There are reports of people who had $200,000 transferred from their bank accounts by thieves. In some cases, thieves point a gun to people’s head demanding them to unlock the phone and insert the password on the banking app to make it easier for them to transfer the money. In other cases, criminals will kidnap people to force them to transfer their money using their banking apps. And there are even reports of people being killed so the criminals have more time to use the banking app on the phone without the risk of the bank account being blocked.

Now there are gangs specialized in stealing phones with this purpose, and some of them have even defined specific goals such as transferring $10,000 from victims per day or so.

Is this a recurring problem in other places as well? I mean, are phone thefts so frequent and are criminals willing to use such violent measures in other countries as well? I have already removed all bank apps from my phone, but I still do not know if there are any additional measures that can be taken to protect the device or ourselves. Plus, is there any difference in safety between using an iPhone or an Android device?

 

[retta283]

I'm not a primary source for this, but my friends in Honduras and Uruguay namely have faced similar issues. It seems to me that this is due to the high prices these phones go for in these countries, but common enough that stealing them is a less risky venture than other theft? I am aware that phone-stealing gangs exist in Serbia, and from my friend's evidence I am sure they exist in Honduras as well.

It is unfortunate that they are starting to break into the devices instead of flipping them. The kidnapping part is something I have feared for many years and it's sad to see it starting to occur. I remember people getting mugged for iPods and finding it an insignificant thing for people to risk charges or murder over, but now there is major money involved. Especially in places where bank security is not as sophisticated, this could shatter someone's life instantly even if they survive.

I assume that Apple's security is more robust, but I don't know the ins and outs of Android's systems or if they vary between OEM firmwares. Apple devices, if you have a second one you could always remotely lock the device from home once it has been stolen. Using many settings or Apple Pay also require the passcode again or touch ID/face ID, and if they failed to get the passcode from you originally and only unlocked with your biometrics, they will be out of luck. Bypassing remote locks on Apple devices is not attainable for many people, the security is quite high quality.

 

[skaertus]

I'm not a primary source for this, but my friends in Honduras and Uruguay namely have faced similar issues. It seems to me that this is due to the high prices these phones go for in these countries, but common enough that stealing them is a less risky venture than other theft? I am aware that phone-stealing gangs exist in Serbia, and from my friend's evidence I am sure they exist in Honduras as well.

It is unfortunate that they are starting to break into the devices instead of flipping them. The kidnapping part is something I have feared for many years and it's sad to see it starting to occur. I remember people getting mugged for iPods and finding it an insignificant thing for people to risk charges or murder over, but now there is major money involved. Especially in places where bank security is not as sophisticated, this could shatter someone's life instantly even if they survive.

I assume that Apple's security is more robust, but I don't know the ins and outs of Android's systems or if they vary between OEM firmwares. Apple devices, if you have a second one you could always remotely lock the device from home once it has been stolen. Using many settings or Apple Pay also require the passcode again or touch ID/face ID, and if they failed to get the passcode from you originally and only unlocked with your biometrics, they will be out of luck. Bypassing remote locks on Apple devices is not attainable for many people, the security is quite high quality.

Here in Brazil phone theft was already common because of the high prices of those devices. It was already a bummer to lose a device worth $1,000, but now it is a whole different level, as gangs are able to steal major amounts of money, which makes the risk even more rewarding for them. The kidnapping part is perhaps the most concerning one, and kidnappings have increased more than 100% in Brazil since the Central Bank implemented an instant payment system that can be used on any mobile device.

Banks have many security features, and I think most of them are advanced and top-notch. However, these gangs are becoming very sophisticated as well, and they manage to find a way around every additional security feature implemented by the banks. And the way they operate seems to be sophisticated as well. There is at least one person specialized in scanning and mapping high-income neighborhoods; another one to attack victims; another one to crack the phone and steal the information; and another one to create and manage ghost accounts to which the money should be transferred.

In Apple devices, I know that security is very good. If even the FBI was unable to crack it, I would be surprised if a street gang was able to. However, these guys are resourceful. And I am still wondering how it is possible to crack biometrics even on Android devices.

I have read somewhere that there are many phone thefts going on in the UK, especially in London. I wonder if people are having similar issues, especially with bank accounts and kidnapping.