Protecting Against the Lost Smartphone Scam

 
Our phones are becoming more and more important in our day to day lives—and they are possibly even more important for many executives and other business professionals. If you lose your phone, you are certainly going to be inconvenienced. But you may also open yourself up to be targeted by cybercriminals who engage in scams.
Read on to learn about one of the most common scams that criminals try on people who lose their phones—and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim.
The Lost Smartphone Scam—What You Need to Know
If you have never lost your smartphone, you are lucky. Many people have misplaced their phones, and they were not necessarily being careless when it happened. You just have to walk away with your phone on a table in a coffee shop or have it slip into the cushion of a couch to see how easy it is to misplace your phone.
Modern smartphone companies and security app developers are providing better ways to help you protect your phone when you lose it, like location tracking and the option to lock your phone remotely—or even wipe your phone completely from your home computer or laptop.
While these security tools are certainly useful and definitely innovative, cybercriminals are not sitting on their hands and doing nothing. They are coming up with ways to get around the most effective security measures to get the valuable data they want. And they want nothing more than the data that comes from a business owner or top executive because that data is worth the most money.
How the Lost Phone Scam Works
If you lose your phone and a cybercriminal finds it, the first thing he or she will do is try to access the phone. But since you are aware of the importance of proper security, you lock your phone when you are not using it. This means that the cybercriminal is going to struggle to unlock it. Instead of waiting to figure out what your password is, they can try another tool—getting you to give them the password.
But how do they get you to give them your password? There is no way you would do it willingly. That is why they use social engineering—tricking you into providing your password. They will figure out what email the phone is registered to and send an email to that address. The email will look official and tell you that the company—Apple, Google, or perhaps your service provider—has found the phone.
They will then ask you to provide your login information. If you believe the email to be legitimate, you may give it to them.
Don’t Fall For It
Apple and Google are never going to send you an email asking for your password. If you lose your phone, let law enforcement and your service provider know. They can tell you what steps to take next to protect your data.
Contact our winning IT services and support company to learn more about how to protect your valuable data in South Florida.