Short answer – YES

Your phone is probably the one thing you should always make sure you lock when not in use. Although you may feel it’s inconvenient at times, or gets in the way of that perfect selfie, getting your life stolen is a much worse thing to happen. Although that sounds like a sensational claim, it is not so outlandish.

If you keep nothing on your phone in the realm of personal data, you still have apps connected to accounts, and Email. With your email account alone many things could be compromised, including government accounts and bank accounts. If you think about it, every time you forget a password or username you have it sent to your email, right? A thief could do exactly the same thing. When you submit a request for a lost password at a bank it is a computer on the other end responding. If all the data seems to be in order, the computer at the other end will reply back with an email to reset your password. At that point, your bank account is drained. This can also happen with your credit card accounts, social media accounts, work-related accounts, and virtually anything your phone can connect to.

If you are thinking ‘if my phone is ever stolen I will just call my provider and cancel or lock things’! The first thing a smart thief will do is call your phone provider and change access methods to your account. This will allow the thief complete access to your phone for as long as they want.

Even though call center representatives are suppose to use strict policy before releasing any information or making account-level changes, it is not always so. Some reps will fold with a bit of pressure and do whatever you request. Anybody who has worked in a call center can verify that they have heard of this happening at least once in their center.

With all this in mind, keep your peace of mind by locking your phone.