Cell Phones and ID Theft

Posted on 14. Jan, 2012 by Emily in General

Many people don’t know that hacked cell phones are one of the most common methods of ID theft around. Sadly, your cell phone can lead to the theft of personal and financial information by a stranger. The most important thing you can do is try to protect yourself by learning how you’re at risk and subsequent protective measures.

Cell Phones and ID Theft

Unfortunately, I know many people who have had their identity stolen. In modern times it’s increasingly difficult to protect your information. One of the most common ways people have their identity stolen is by having their cell phone “cloned” or hacked. Having your phone hacked or ‘cloned’ is something everyone with a smartphone has to worry about. A smartphone is any mobile phone that can access the internet.

Phone cloning is the transfer of identity between one mobile phone and another. The culprit puts a computer chip into the cell phone allowing the electronic serial number to be modified. Hacking can be done by various means– your phone can even get hacked by viruses transmitted by a nearby Bluetooth. Scary stuff.

If you’re suspicious that somehow your phone has been hacked, take a deep breath. The consequences of having your phone hacked may be detrimental, but there are easy methods of determining whether or not it’s actually happened.

Check your bank account information and see if there’s any unusual activity.

Look through your phone records and look for any out of place phone calls, texts and data transfers. 

Take your phone to your wireless provider and ask them to run a diagnostic check for viruses. 

Call your phone from another location and see if comes through to you. 

Cell Phones and ID Theft

It’s important that you try to stay on alert in order for you to catch hackers early on. The more aware you are of your phone and potential hackers, the safer you will be. Make sure you check your phone and bank account records as regularly as possible– this is one great way to prevent your phone from being hacked, but there are a few more to consider:

Change your phone’s remote access PIN.

Use strong passwords that would be difficult for anyone to guess.

Turn off auto-complete so that passwords aren’t stored on your phone.

Delete your browsing history frequently. 

Turn off Bluetooth, Wifi and GPS when you’re not using them.

These tips were sourced from iTworld.

Cell Phones and ID Theft

I recently bought myself an iPhone and I know that I really should be more careful with it. In general, it’s important to keep all of your online information as safe as possible. This means not having predictive passwords, or changing your passwords as often as possible, and pretty much being wary of everyone . Whether it’s a deal you think you’ve scored online or a survey you think you’re filling out. Preventing identity theft is really about checking your accounts daily, changing your passwords often and having a relatively high level of suspicion at all times. It’s sad, but this is the world we live in! Cell Phones and ID Theft

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