In the past couple of weeks there has been a spurt in the number of thefts of mobile phones reported in the State. The Goa police have reportedly busted two more gangs of mobile phones which targeted tourist places and the EDM festival in North Goa. The Anjuna police arrested 18 accused and recovered 29 mobile phones worth around Rs10 lakh.
On the previous day the Calangute police had caught 12 accused and recovered 41 mobiles while the Anjuna police nabbed 18 accused and seized mobiles. Besides these, several arrests have been made in South Goa and mobile phones worth lakhs of rupees have been seized. It is obvious that there are several gangs of mobiles thieves operating in the State which could be interlinked. Be that as it may, it must be said that these small, expensive and highly useful smartphones have provided a rich opportunity for enterprising crooks to make money in two ways namely by reselling the phones and stealing one’s information.
It must be said that as costly as it is to replace a smartphone, the greatest risk to most consumers is the enormous amount of personal and financial data stored on their devices. If criminals can access credit card and banking information, passwords, accounts on email and social networks, contact lists or view one’s calendar, they can use it to steal identities, rob homes, stalk, send spam through the account, infect the devices and make purchases using the account and much more.
Besides this, it is just too easy for a thief to steal a phone and sell it on the black market. Using a password is most likely the best way to thwart the curious person who finds the mobile device and wants to snoop through the information, and it will at least slow down the criminals. Mobile security software can provide protection from criminals who want to virtually steal information from the stolen mobile phone by installing malware. Using the screen lock is the simplest way to secure one's phone. Many phones today support biometric authentication as well. One can make use of a fingerprint sensor or facial recognition lock too, which is more secure than the traditional lock patterns. International mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number is a unique number which is used to identify mobile phones. Every mobile phone has a unique number. It is easier to track the phones using the IMEI numbers if they are stolen.
