In a Boston 25 News segment, anchors Vanessa Wells and Mark Ackerblom introduce a police warning about a surge in cell phone thefts that have led to significant financial loss and identity theft, including an $8,000 bank robbery and stolen Social Security numbers. Reporter John Monaghan interviews Northeastern student Masha Yukubovich, who expresses concern, and security expert Robert Siciliano, CEO of ProtectNow, who explains how smartphones act as treasure troves for thieves in the digital age. Siciliano outlines the dangers of unlocked phones, shoulder surfing, and active apps, and provides a step‑by‑step security checklist: use a passcode, log out of financial apps, enable remote‑wipe or lost mode, back up data to the cloud, change passwords after a loss, and maintain situational awareness. The segment ends with a reminder to stay vigilant and protect personal data.
Chapters
First at 10 tonight, cell phones stolen and bank accounts hacked. A warning from Boston police as some of you get ready to head into the city this weekend. Thanks for joining us on this Friday night. I'm Vanessa Wells.
And I'm Mark Ackerblom. Boston 25 News reporter John Monaghan is live in Boston. And John, one victim lost thousands of dollars.
That's right, Mark, $8,000 from his bank account, and the thieves also got his Social Security number. Now, we spoke to a security expert tonight. He says your phone, it can be just like a gold mine for thieves.
Pretty scary. I mean, I definitely don't want anything stolen, especially as like a young person. It can do a lot to you.
Northeastern student Masha Yukubovich was unaware of the recent rash of cell phone thefts and appreciates Boston Police putting out a warning.
I am glad they put it out. It's definitely good to know.
Security expert Robert Siciliano, the CEO of ProtectNow, says this is nothing new, but in the digital age, our phones become a treasure trove for thieves.
If your phone is lost or stolen and it doesn't have a passcode on it, bad guys have access to everything.
One person responded to BPD's post saying it happened to him a few weeks ago. Thieves stole $8,000, his Social Security number, and locked him out of his iCloud account just by using his passcode. Boston Police warn of what's called shoulder surfing.
It's very easy for somebody to come up behind you and actually use their phone to zoom in and record exactly what you're doing over your shoulder.
Police also caution people to always log out of apps, especially financial and banking ones.
If your phone is stolen while you're actually on it, that means it's not locked. That means that all of your apps that are currently active, somebody could get access to.
If your phone is stolen, wipe it clean from another device, enable the lost mode, or remotely wipe all data from the device. And finally, Siciliano says always be aware of your surroundings. He calls it situational awareness.
No matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, know what's going on behind you, in front of you, to the left and the right, and make sure that nobody's paying any unwanted attention to you.
And two more things: make sure you back your phone up to the cloud so you can always retrieve that data. And also, if your phone gets stolen, change all the passwords connected to that device. We're live in Boston tonight. I'm John Monaghan for your local station, Boston 25 News.
