About ProtectMyMobile
An independent resource, built and maintained by Antonio Smith, that brings UK phone theft prevention, emergency steps, and the data behind the problem into one place.
Phone stolen? Start hereWhy It Exists
Phones stolen in London in 2024 (Met Police FOI)
After a theft, the advice people need is scattered across police websites, bank pages, provider portals, and forum threads, exactly when they're stressed and short on time. ProtectMyMobile consolidates it: prevention before it happens, emergency steps when it does, and the data to understand the scale of the problem.
What You Can Do Here
Theft Data & Statistics
Interactive maps, city-level breakdowns, hotspot rankings, and seasonal trends built from FOI requests and police data.
News Monitoring
Automated tracking of arrests, seizures, law changes, and prevention tips from UK news sources. Updated weekly.
Prevention Guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for SIM locks, biometric security, app-specific passwords, and IMEI registration.
Emergency Response
What to do in the first 30 minutes: lock your device, change passwords, contact your bank and network, report to police.
Why Trust It
Where the data comes from
- Freedom of Information
- FOI requests to UK police forces for mobile theft statistics, aggregated into the theft map and trends.
- News aggregation
- Automated weekly scanning of UK news sources (Google News, Guardian, Sky News, local police reports), filtered for mobile theft relevance.
- Community reports
- Anonymous theft reports from visitors, which surface emerging hotspots before official statistics capture them.
Built differently
- Free, forever. No ads, no signups, no paywalls, no premium tiers. Phone theft advice belongs in the public domain.
- Privacy first. I don't store IMEI numbers, require accounts, or track individual users. Theft reports are anonymous. I use minimal analytics, just enough to know which pages help.
- Shaped by reality. Real experiences shape my guidance. If a prevention tip doesn't match how thefts actually happen, I want to know.
How You Can Help
This site improves when people contribute. Three things make a difference:
- Report thefts. If your phone was stolen, tell me where and when. Each report improves the hotspot data for everyone.
- Share your experience. Your story helps others know what to expect. Submit your account; it stays anonymous.
- Spread the word. Share the London visitor guide with tourists, or tell colleagues about the quick security checkup.