Londoners lose 10,000 mobiles in cabs a month

Londoners lose 10,000 mobile phones each month in cabs, according to new research.

Another 1,000 other devices such as iPods and laptops also get left on the seat each month, according to the report from Credant Technologies.

The study quoted Steve McMenara, from TAXI magazine, as saying the busy shopping season is the worst for lost devices. He said: "It's a known fact that this is the worst time of year for forgetting `property' at the back of cabs, but especially mobile phones and laptops as they slip onto the floor or get forgotten on the seats as passengers rush onto their next destination with their hands full."

Credant's vice president Sean Glynn warned businesses to backup their devices, use a PIN on phones, and encrypt them if they held sensitive information.

"Back in the good old days when a Window was something you looked out of, and a Mac was something you wore in the rain, it used to be small items like brollies and briefcases stuffed full of boring office papers," he said in a statement.

"Now it's laptops, smartphones and thumb drives, all chock-full of valuable information to an identity thief," he added.

The British Computer Society also warned about data loss in cabs earlier this year.

But don't panic too much if you do lose your gadget in the back of a cab, as 80 per cent of lost mobiles find their way back to their owners compared to 66 per cent in New York.