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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Rupert Jones

Criminal gangs who ‘shoulder-surf’ pin numbers steal ‘20 smartphones a day’

Rich Dave Fishwick
A hand holding a mobile phone
Police and some banks have warned of a rise in the number of cases where a criminal watches over someone’s shoulder as they key in their phone pin or password and then steals the handset. Photograph: Lauren Hurley/PA

Criminal gang members who “shoulder-surf” smartphone users for their pin number are stealing as many as 20 handsets each a day and then raiding their victims’ bank accounts, it has been claimed.

In an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, a criminal “gang leader” suggested that in the case of one victim it took just half an hour to gain access to their banking apps and steal tens of thousands of pounds.

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