Martin Lewis urges mobile banking users to dial a secret five-digit code to protect their money

Money expert Martin Lewis has insisted on all users of mobile phones to call a mysterious five -digit number to protect their phone – and the bank apps on it – against thieves.

Lewis, who runs the website for financial advice for money -saving expert, explained about his accompanying ITV series The Martin Lewis Money show that we need to protect our phones against now more than ever stolen.

In the episode of Tuesday's show, he said: 'Thefts have risen 40 percent in London, but they also go straight throughout the country.

'Now, the crucial thing: they try not only to catch up your phone, some try to access your financial details from your phone. You have to protect yourself against these people. '

One of the five tips for telephone security that the financial guru gave was to call it somewhat bizarre, five-digit telephone number *# 06# to get what is known as their IMEI image, with the unique identity number of the international international mobile equipment.

He advised users to then take a screen handle of that image and to e -mail it, which are assumed to have access to their inbox of a separate device that is not their phone, in the possibility that their handset will be stolen.

Choosing *#06#, just via your keyboard for mobile phones, is a very useful precautionary measure against telephone theft, he explained: '[The IMEI image] Is what you should give to the police when your phone is stolen. '

So users know what to look out for, the image has three black barcodes on top of each other, on a white background, with the head, 'Device Info'.

Lewis (photo), who runs the website for financial advice for money -saving expert, explained on his accompanying ITV series De Martin Lewis Money show that we need to protect our phones against now more than ever stolen than ever stolen

One of the five tips for telephone security that the financial guru gave was to call it somewhat bizarre, five-digit telephone number *# 06# to get what is known as their IMEI image

Choosing *#06#, just via your keyboard for mobile phones, is a very useful precautionary measure against telephone theft, he explained: '[The IMEI image] is what you need to give the police when your phone has been stolen '

He said: 'Try it on your phone, literally on your telephone number. I know it sounds strange, but that's what happens. '

Each mobile device has a unique IMEI number – so users who know what this is are invaluable for the police if their phone has ever been stolen, because it makes individual handsets much easier to trace and identify.

The recommendation came as part of a segment in the delivery in which the money -saving expert mobile phones gave five tips to try to prevent their device from being stolen.

In particular, it is relevant for the Consumer Finance Specialist expertise, because telephone theft can give thieves access to valuable financial information stored on the handset.

Another recommendation saw him advise users to make biometrics possible – the use of fingerprint and face recognition to lock up and unlock the device – on their phones.

It is crucial that they have to switch it on to unlock the phone itself and for entering the individual bank apps that they can have on their device.

By needing the user's unique face or fingerprint to unlock the device, it becomes of course much harder for someone else to enter and open the phone and bank apps.

But if users are using pin codes instead, he begged them to make someone else before entering their phone than the one they use to open their bank app.

The recommendation came as part of a segment in the delivery in which the money -saving expert (shown, this morning in January) gave users of mobile phones five tips to try to prevent their device from being stolen

He explained: “Nowadays it is called shoulder surfing, people look over your shoulder to see your pin code and if you do the same for both, they have access to your money.”

Another tip saw him advise how people can find their phone if it is stolen – by using an external tracking app.

All important telephone brands have a built-in app, with Find My on Apple devices, find smart things for Samsung and find my device for Google.

Thefts of mobile phones have tripled over the past four years, according to new data.

More than 70,000 telephones were grown in the streets of London alone in 2024, from an estimated 100,000 thefts in the United Kingdom, showed the figures for a FOI request to the metropolitan police.

It is thought that telephones from telephones can cost consumers up to £ 70 million every year.

Victims of the crime come from all layers of life, with celebrities, including model and socialite lady Victoria Hervey and presenter Kym Marsh reveal that their handsets were taken earlier.