If you lose phone

gadget88

I recently read someone was done out of money with one of the smaller online banks. If your phone is stolen and someone gets is your money protected? Had mine stolen this summer but was luckily I blocked my card quickly but I worry any savings could be at risk if they guess your password?

Newbie_John

I heard they don't need your password, the scam relies on the visibility of the code in the text message that arrives without fully opening it.

"334455 is your code to.."

Or they move a SIM to new phone then instal the bank app on their phone, banks send confirmation code to prove it's you - they get the text..
Something like that.

Is it protected, can't really tell for sure but there were some developments recently improving our financial safety. So I would imagine yes, although it's not that simple and probably varies.

gadget88

I know if you lose money it’s a hassle getting it back is it wise to keep savings in a bank where you don’t online bank or perhaps use a spare phone?

Voyager2002

There is a very simple solution... protect your SIM with a PIN.

Shakin_Steve

Voyager2002 said:

There is a very simple solution... protect your SIM with a PIN.

Yes. I protected my SIM card with a PIN years ago. I can't remember it but that's ok, nobody else will know it either. 🙂

masonic

Shakin_Steve said:

Voyager2002 said:

There is a very simple solution... protect your SIM with a PIN.

Yes. I protected my SIM card with a PIN years ago. I can't remember it but that's ok, nobody else will know it either. 🙂

Unless it asks you for your PIN each time your phone is restarted, then it won't be working. It is therefore unwise to forget your SIM PIN when SIM lock is enabled..

sausage_time

Be sure to hide notification content on your lock screen in settings.  That way bad people can't see SMS 2FA codes, etc, without your security details.

tacpot12

You should try to use a savings bank that uses Two-Factor Authentication. Ideally, this would be via Google Authenticator, as this allows you to also use the 2FAS Authenticator which has much better security than Google Authenticator. 

If the bank you want to use only uses SMS Text messages for Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), then that it more risky if your phone is stolen, but most banks will only send the 2FA code via SMS after you have provided a valid login and password, so making sure that these are never kept with your phone or anything like a handbag that might stolen as the same time as you phone is a good safety measure. You should test each online banking service to make sure it doesn't send an SMS to try to identify you when you have entered an invalid password. I would not use such a bank.  

I have my user ids and passwords stored in a Password Manager app on my phone, but the password to access the app is long and complex, but easy for me to remember and enter when I need to access the details I need for online banking.

I also have macros on my iPhone that lock the phone when you open the SMS Text Message app or the Email app, so that notifications containing one-time passcodes cannot be accessed without knowing the PIN to unlock the phone. This is not very effective as most experienced hackers will look for these macros and delete them before trying to obtain one-time passcodes, and Apple don't allow you to require a PIN to delete macros.

 

wmb194

masonic said:

Shakin_Steve said:

Voyager2002 said:

There is a very simple solution... protect your SIM with a PIN.

Yes. I protected my SIM card with a PIN years ago. I can't remember it but that's ok, nobody else will know it either. 🙂

Unless it asks you for your PIN each time your phone is restarted, then it won't be working. It is therefore unwise to forget your SIM PIN when SIM lock is enabled..

It's not the end of the world though as you can ask your network provider for the PUK unlock code and these days the PUK is often stated in the packaging for the SIM.

Back in the 90s and early 00s having a SIM PIN was security 101 so it's strange to me that people don't have them set up.

wmb194

gadget88 said:

I recently read someone was done out of money with one of the smaller online banks. If your phone is stolen and someone gets is your money protected? Had mine stolen this summer but was luckily I blocked my card quickly but I worry any savings could be at risk if they guess your password?

If you're really worried about it have two phones: one for going out that doesn't have any/many bank apps on it and another that doesn't leave the house with all your bank apps and 2FA authenticators on it.

km1500

if you have a Samsung phone put your banking, email app etc in the secure folder