The alert has been issued by the phone provider following a series of thefts affecting people living across the United Kingdom
O2 has issued an urgent warning to all customers, advising them to disable text message previews at once. This alert comes in the wake of a surge in thefts across the country, prompting the mobile provider to share five essential tips to help prevent your phone from being stolen.
O2 cautioned: "Only store sensitive information like login details in apps with password or biometric protection. Use different PINs on your apps to your main device. Set up and switch on a SIM pin. Turn message preview OFF."
The company said switching off previews could make a big difference to people if they have their phones stolen. They said: "Scammers are increasingly using stolen phones to access bank accounts and even take out loans in victims’ names.
"Many banks and websites send verification messages to your phone to check it’s really you. If a fraudster can read these, they’ll find it easier to go after your savings or spend money in your name.
"More than a third of us (36%) have message preview on, meaning messages can be read even without your pin code. All someone has to do is look at your home screen. To prevent this, you should turn your preview off so that you can only see who the message is from not what the message contains when the device is locked."
O2 added: "Ensure you have important device account information handy and in a safe place.", reports Birmingham Live. According to data obtained by The Times from 35 police forces under Freedom of Information laws, there were 316,683 mobile phone thefts reported between January 1, 2019, and December 31 last year.
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