Woman who had her phone stolen on holiday warns against 'big mistake' that enabled thieves to drain more than £12,000 from her savings account

A young female who had her telephone stolen while holidaying Zante, has warned against utilizing elemental passwords aft a thief was capable to entree her photos and online banking.

Gen Zer, Lydia Coates, took to TikTok to stock really her telephone was stolen while holidaying pinch her friends, captioning nan clip: 'How 1 elemental correction successful Zante costs maine complete £10,000.'

In her video, Lydia warned: 'If you're readying to spell connected a girls aliases lads vacation this summer, do not make nan aforesaid correction arsenic me!' 

In 2022, nan TikToker had planned a fund vacation pinch a friend to Zante successful Greece. On nan 2nd time of nan trip, nan 2 planned to return a vessel travel together.

Lydia packed a mini container for her phone, ID and rate and explains that she had it intimately attached to her while connected nan boat.

During nan boozy vessel trip, Lydia claimed that her container was kept connected her 'at each times'.

'The only clip I didn't person my container connected maine was erstwhile I was successful nan sea, but my friend was still connected nan vessel truthful she had it.

'When I sewage backmost from nan sea, I sewage my container which was still there, but my telephone was gone.' 

Since nan vessel travel was 'quite small' pinch astir 50 aliases truthful group onboard, Lydia and her friend asked nan DJ to inquire nan crowd if anyone had travel crossed nan missing phone. 

Organisers of nan travel past promised to cheque each individual earlier getting disconnected nan vessel to spot who had pocketed nan device. 

'I was benignant of astatine bid because if personification stole it, they're gonna find it anyway,' she recalled. 

However, she soon realised that she was incorrect to presume organisers would return action. 

'Of people they didn't hunt everyone truthful my telephone was gone!'

However, nan missing telephone was only nan commencement of what became a very costly vacation nightmare.

'My biggest correction that holiday, was putting my driving licence successful nan backmost connected my phone,' she explained.

'My birthday, connected my driving licence successful nan backmost of my phone, was my password and was also, nan password to my online banking.'

Realising nan fatal error, Lydia 'frantically' checked her slope relationship to spot if location had been immoderate withdrawals taken and was relieved to spot that thing had been moved while nan telephone was stolen.

Comfortable that her rate was safe, Lydia said she 'just forgot' astir nan incident and went connected utilizing her friend's mobile for nan long of nan trip. 

However, her luck was not to last.

'Lo and behold erstwhile I sewage home, I checked my mobile banking and a singular slope transportation of £12,242 had been sent to personification called Jessica,' she said.

The stolen rate had travel from Lydia's help-to-buy ISA, meaning that years worthy of savings were lost. 

Devastated, Lydia contacted nan constabulary who told her to interaction Zante police, wherever nan theft had occurred. 

'When I contacted Zante police, they were perfectly nary help,' she explained

'Because this personification had entree to my phone, each of my assemblage and each nan photos that were ever connected my phone, my online banking, my ID, I person had to unfastened a personality fraud protection scheme.

'So now, for nan remainder of my life I americium paying for protection against personality fraud because this personification could return retired arsenic galore loans, mortgages pinch my information.' 

'The civilized of nan communicative is, do not put your ID successful nan backmost of your telephone lawsuit if you're going connected vacation aliases ever!' 

In a later video, Lydia explained that she resolved nan rumor by changing each of her slope specifications and signing her erstwhile relationship disconnected arsenic 'fraudulent'.

After a number of meetings pinch banks and police, thankfully Lydia was capable to retrieve nan £12,242 that had been stolen from her.

'We assumed we could good nan personification who stole nan money connected Facebook from their sanction but they had fixed a clone name.

'It was not this person's first clip robbing a slope aliases someone's details.

'This circumstantial sanction was a sanction that had been utilized crossed aggregate fraud sites arsenic a clone sanction truthful nan existent perpetrators weren't identified.

The telephone was identified arsenic being astatine a location successful Birmingham via an app but she was urged not to way it down.

'In my case, they sewage distant pinch it, they sewage nan money because I sewage nan money backmost from nan fraud protection and not from nan personification themselves.' 

The money was reimbursed acknowledgment to her fraud protection scheme. 

Lydia's unfortunate brushwood isn't nan first and apt won't beryllium nan last, arsenic it comes amid a surge successful cases connected telephone theft successful nan UK. 

The superior has been peculiarly severely deed pinch immoderate calling it nan 'London epidemic' arsenic much and much cases expanse done nan city.

The City of London Police said it is moving a targeted cognition that is disrupting telephone snatching successful nan Square Mile.

The cognition was started owed to nan worrying emergence nan unit saw successful telephone snatching successful 2022, which carried connected into past and this year.

The unit is moreover spraying criminals and their mopeds pinch a DNA spray successful a bid to nexus them to crimes if they title away.

The unit advised group to stay vigilant successful crowded areas and connected nan carrier web and asked anyone who falls unfortunate of a mobile telephone robbery to interaction nan constabulary consecutive away.