Nasty thieves and how you can protect yourself now

iPhone users usually feel very safe and yet they are currently the victims of a nasty scam by gangsters and thieves. The “Wall Street Journal” got to the bottom of this and reveals how you can protect yourself against it in the end. Apple itself initially only puts off.

Anyone who enters their passcode in the iPhone in public should rather be sure that no one is spying on them. But that’s exactly what happens, especially where there are many people in public places. The The Wall Street Journal reports about this nasty scam and talks to the victims.

iPhone passcode is spied out: With catastrophic consequences

All of the respondents indicated that their iPhones were stolen while in bars or other public places at night. Crooks spy on iPhone’s passcode and then steal the victim’s iPhone afterwards. For this purpose, they were ripped out of the hands of the users, and there were also reports of physical attacks and intimidation.

The must-see report from the Wall Street Journal:

With the previously spotted passcode, the thief can then virtually stealing the entire digital life of its victim and not just the iPhone itself. In the end, not only can “Find my iPhone” be deactivated and thus prevent any remote deletion attempts by the actual owner, the thief can also change the contact information of an Apple ID, use Apple Pay and access banking apps, for example. In short: The worst case scenario for every Apple user.

Of course, the reporters would like an answer from Apple. The iPhone manufacturer shows understanding, but doesn’t get very specific: we feel sorry for the users who have had this experience and we take all attacks against our users very seriously, no matter how rare they are… we will continue to improve protections to keep user accounts safe guarantee.” What Apple ultimately means by this remains unmentioned. Sounds like cold consolation to us.

If you haven’t used Face ID or Touch ID yet, you should do so now:

Tips against the nasty thief trick

Those are more helpful Tips from Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern. Users should therefore take the following steps:

• If possible Face ID or Touch ID use in public.
• If you need to enter a passcode in public, you should use it Cover the screen with one hand.
• Switch to one custom alphanumeric passcode instead of a 4 or 6 digit passcode (Settings, Face ID & Passcode, Change Passcode, Passcode Options, “My Alphanumeric Passcode”).
• Remove sensitive account passwords stored in iCloud Keychain or a separate password manager like 1Password that cannot be opened with the iPhone passcode.

With these tips, the risk of data and iPhone theft should be reduced.

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