Unfortunately, stealing iPhones isn’t a new thing. Theives in the city São Paulo, Brazil are not only stealing people’s iPhone, but they’re also wiping their whole money away by hacking into it.

According to a new report by Folha de S.Paulo, iPhone thefts in Brazil have gone up. The theifs are not only stealing people’s iPhone, but they’re also able to hack into their iPhones. The theives take away personal information like bank account details, card details, and then wipe out whole bank accounts without any trace.

According to the newspaper, the these kinds of thefts have been happening since last year, but have gotten up every since the pandemic. Many people with iPhone 11 and iPhone XR have reported about their iPhones being stolen and bank accounts being hacked.

Procon, the Brazilian consumer protection regulator is now planning to take action against Apple.

“Procon already acknowledged about a gang of cell phone receivers whose main illegal business is not the resale of cell phones, but the defrauding of passwords for bank fraud. This is being done through an army of hackers,” said executive director Fernando Capez.”

São Paulo’s police chief Roberto Monteiro said that theives usually targeted cars with fitted Android units. “Although breaking an iOS system is more difficult, they have also specialized in it,” said the police chief.

These hackings involved two major banks — Brazilian fintech Nubank and Itaú Unibanco. The banks have issued a note claiming that they’re working to tighten their app’s security.

“In order for banking applications to be used, the use of the customer’s personal password is mandatory. The application’s usage data, as well as the customer’s password, are never stored by the bank’s applications on the customers’ cell phones,” says the note.

Apple proudly touts the security of its iPhones, however, it seems that tht theives have found a way to get through it. A reasearch paper published earlier this year reported how police hacked into iPhone.

We would again like to emphasise on how important it is to secure your phone these days. You should use Face ID/Touch ID to protect your iPhone and once you update to iOS 15, please use the in-built password authenticator to protect your credentials.