This is a wild video from South America where a woman fought back against two thieves trying to snatch her phone. The crooks were caught completely off guard, but a lot could have gone wrong here for the victim. Instead of this reaction, in the video above I break down what she could have done to prevented the attempt with the least risk to herself.
In the latest disturbing mugging trend, not only are criminals demanding everything in your pockets, they’re forcing you to empty your bank accounts right from your phone. You’ll need to prepare your mobile from forced transfer muggings, otherwise you could be left with a lot more loss than just a stolen phone.
Here’s what you need to do to protect yourself.
Basics First
Often, the victims of these kinds of robberies are in public but distracted, ironically, by their phones. Thieves are looking for a quick opportunity and catching someone by surprise is a good way to save time and reduce their chances of getting caught. Always be aware of your surroundings in busy areas and if you have to check your phone, do it somewhere indoors or where you feel safe.
Even then, try not to get lost staring at your phone and save anything you need to really concentrate on for home or inside a cafe.
Use Biometrics
Enable Face ID on your iPhone or Face Recognition for Android because there are some key security features tied to them. Also, the PIN on your phone should be unique – make sure it’s not your ATM PIN or used for anything else other than to unlock your phone. Next you want to enable remote tracking features like “Find My iPhone” for iOS or “Find my Device” on Android because those will let you erase your phone if it’s lost or stolen.
When you have facial recognition enabled you can also hide apps or use private space on Android so your sensitive bank apps are hidden and require a face scan to open. It’s not absolute security but in the heat of the moment the robbers will try to get away as soon as possible, so this level of protection makes it less likely they’ll dig deep on the spot.
Go Cold Turkey
I’d recommend not having any of your bank apps on your phone – which sounds crazy – but trust me, you probably don’t need them as much as you think. And if you are going to have one, use a separate account for just your phone. The robbers are going to go for the easiest method so if you do decide to keep a banking app on your phone, make sure it’s bait.
Create a bank account you’ll only use with your phone and keep a very limited amount of money there. You can also set transfer limits on your accounts if your bank allows it so if you are forced to transfer money out at gunpoint, there’s a limit on how much you can withdraw per day. A lot of banks too have privacy and security features that you might not know about. It’s a pain but spending a few minutes to call their customer service or fraud departments and ask what features they have can be useful and if they’re lacking, letting them know it’s important to you or you might go to a competitor, which can be useful feedback.
For apps and services like Paypal, Zelle, Revolut, and Venmo make sure you also set up those accounts with transfer limits and keep no or a very small amount of funds there. Also, don’t connect them to your main bank accounts – only connect them with that secondary account that has limited funds.
You want to insulate your main accounts from your phone’s apps. For more on protecting yourself against forced transfer muggings watch this video.
In some parts of the world mugging and pickpocketing is a common, advanced art (like slash attacks). With most people unsuspecting, big cities like Paris, Rome, and London can become easy hunting grounds for thieves. All of their tricks have counters though that they do not want you to know about.
Here’s how to handle your cash to thwart even the best of pickpockets.
Diversify
A tactic so simple it’s amazing more people don’t do it – distribute your cash in multiple places. Use your wallet, other pocket, socks, or money belt so that all of your money is not in one place. That way if you get robbed, there are limited loses from a successful pickpocketing. Keep your smallest amounts easily accessible and the larger sums in harder to get places. Carry only what you need and don’t keep it all in one place.
Use The Fold, Luke
Rather than keeping your cash in one big wad, break it up into folds of ones, fives, tens, and other denominations. This way, even if everything is in a single pocket, you can take only a small portion of it out. (Watch the video above to see this demonstrated.) Clever cash folds are another way to lessen the impact of any single, successful theft. Using folds also means you don’t have to take all of your cash out every time for each purchase, when you might only need a small amount. Pickpockets are watching so be careful not to display your valuables.
Decoy The Day Away
In some places it might be worth carrying a decoy wallet loaded with some decoy cards. You can find these sold at just a few dollars and they make a convincing piece of bait for a pickpocket or mugger. They’re effective for times you do have to hand over your purse or empty your pockets in a short time or when confronted. Keep a small amount of cash in your decoy and part with it quickly, knowing the real valuables are still with you.
MAny travlers have a false sense of security when they enter an airport completely dropping common sense at the sliding doors. Hopefully that changes after you watch the video above where TSA agents were caught but only after stealing over $1,000 a day from the security line.
What You Can Do
The first step is to be aware that airport thefts can happen and you should be as cautious as you would at any public, crowded place. Pickpockets and other thieves also travel so don’t spread out your things at the gate or charging station without a high degree of awareness. Corrupt TSA agents are another threat because most people don’t suspect them. (Plus they police themselves.) To deal with the security line, you need to prepare.
Advanced Security
Pack the things in your pockets, wallet, phone, watch, all deep inside of your carry on and do this before you get to the security line. That way the TSA agents won’t know what’s in your bags and it’s a lot more difficult for them to do a quick grab. Never leave your valuables, cash, wallet, or phone out in the open in a bin by itself.
Stuff a jacket on top of your things inside of your backpack and if you want to go an extra step, you can hide things in zippered pockets. Speaking of those, zip up your backpack as it goes through the security line.
Streamlining
In the video above you’ll see a process I call streamlining. This is basically black belt levels of travel preparation you can use to protect your valuables and even get through the security line faster than you have been. None of these strategies on their own will completely prevent theft but when combined, many you’re less likely to be a target. Stay with your things as you go through the security line, use your eyes, and hide what you want to protect.
AirTags are Apple’s disc-shaped solution to lost keys, purses, pets, and wallets. The problem is their shape makes them too bulky to fit in a traditional wallet – let alone a slim one. That’s where Ridge’s Tracker Card comes in. The credit card shape, thickness, and weight make it perfect for slipping into a wallet but without the AirTag’s ultra-wide band chip are they any good?
You can see in the video above I put them to the test and learned they have a significant limitation.
The Stolen Wallet Test
I had two friends take my wallet – one with an AirTag and the other a Ridge Tracker Card to see if I could find either of them within 20 minutes. Both devices use Apple’s Find My network and should give you a notification when they leave your (phone’s) vicinity. Unfortunately, in both cases, it took over 10 minutes to get that notification. That cut my search time in half and while the Ridge Tracker Card did ping more often than the AirTag, the updates were minutes apart.
Getting Lost
Yes, in both cases I was not able to track down my wallet. Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag simply weren’t updating frequently enough – in a large and crowded part of a European capital city – so I would expect in less densely populated areas it would be even worse. My pickpockets were always one step (or three) ahead of me.
Of course in an actual pickpocketing, the thieves would likely ditch and AirTag immediately. A Ridge Tracker Card is less conspicuous so there’s a chance it wouldn’t get discarded quite as quickly. Still, the most likely scenario is someone stealing a wallet, walking a few blocks away somewhere quiet to unload the money and cards, and leave everything else behind.
Not All Is Lost
Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag have a number of uses but these are not GPS devices. They don’t update frequently enough to actively track someone in most cases. For lost items though, they can be useful to get a location, be notified you left your wallet at home, or that a kind barista is safeguarding the wallet you forgot at the cafe.
Where time is critical, an AirTag and Ridge Tracker Card might just be a bit too slow for you to keep up with a crook.
It sounds straight out of spy novels but finding hidden cameras in hotels and other accommodation rentals is not unheard of. Cameras are getting smaller, better camouflaged but on the flip side the tools to detect them have improved as well.
Watch the video above to see hotel room search for hidden cameras, then follow the guide below the next time you check in.
Visual Inspection
The first step is to use some of the most sophisticated lenses on the planet – your eyes. Look for items that are out of place, don’t match the room decor or design, or otherwise are doubled up. For example, there may be two alarm clocks (with one in a drawer). Hotels order furniture and accessories in bulk so differences in brands, makes, especially in larger hotels should stand out.
Take a close look around the room and inspect anything you have suspicions about.
Know The Lenses
Hidden cameras and microphones can look like anything. You should be aware that wall chargers, television remotes, smoke detectors, and alarm clocks (to name a few) are some common form factors. All of these types of hidden cameras and mics can be bought online, found easily, and cost $150 or less.
They’re fairly sophisticated and can stream directly to an app the spy is using as well as a build in SD card. Use your visual inspection to take a close look at these items – which may actually work as the devices they’re disguised as – and look for any additional pinholes or glass covers.
Detector Time
It’s after you’ve completed your visual inspection that you can use something like the K18 or X13 bug detector. The K18 is a little more powerful but both devices detect radio waves that something like a smoke detector shouldn’t need. Even if it is a smoke detector that uses wifi for monitoring, a hidden camera detector can draw your attention to such devices so you can take a closer look.
Remote controls can be especially tricky since we expect them to emit some amount of waves that could set off our detector. Again, that’s where your eyes come in. Focus on the areas someone is most likely to bug you – like the bath and bedrooms, be alert, and after a 10 minute inspection for electronic bugs you can move on to bed bugs.
Hi, I'm Anil. foXnoMad is where I combine travel and tech to help you travel smarter. I'm on a journey to every country in the world and you're invited to join the adventure! Read More 
