'Lost phones study pinpoints problem cities

4 hrs.

Suzanne Choney

What is it about Philly and phones? Residents there lose their phones (or they're stolen) two times more than those in the Big Apple, while New Yorkers and San Franciscans lose their phones three times more than those in Chicago.

That's according to an analysis done by Lookout Labs, based on their 15 million customers worldwide., many of whom use Lookout's free mobile security and location software.

Here's Lookout's list of the top 10 U.S. cities where phones were lost last year:

1. ? ? ?Philadelphia
2. ? ? ?Seattle
3. ? ? ?Oakland
4. ? ? ?Long Beach
5. ? ? ?Newark
6. ? ? ?Detroit
7. ? ? ?Cleveland
8. ? ? ?Baltimore
9. ? ? ?New York
10. ? ?Boston

"Interestingly, many of the cities with highest rates of lost and stolen phones also were in the top ranks for the FBI's most recent crime statistics," Lookout noted. "Cleveland, Detroit, Oakland and Newark, were amongst the 10 cities with the highest crime rates in the U.S."

You can check several cities tagged by Lookout on its new Mobile Lost & Found site, which breaks down the data from its study, showing cities and places where phones are most often lost and the likelihood of losing a phone by region.

Lookout also found that certain locations "invited loss more than others, with coffee shops and bars topping the list."

Time of day matters, too, especially those after-school and after-work hours: "People lose their phone most often at night; 67 percent of phones are located between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m."

The top 10 places for lost or stolen phones in the U.S. were:

1. ? ? ?Coffee shop
2. ? ? ?Bar
3. ? ? ?Office
4. ? ? ?Restaurants
5. ? ? ?Apartment and condo
6. ? ? ?Grocery store
7. ? ? ?Gas Station
8. ? ? ?Residential
9. ? ? ?Pharmacy or drugstore
10. ? ?Park

Lookout, which has a free app for iPhone and Android phones that includes an annoying "scream" alarm to help locate your phone from a computer or another smartphone, said in 2011 it helped locate 9 million lost smartphones. In the U.S., consumers "lose their phone about once a year," the company said.

"Each day, $7 million worth of phones are lost by Lookout users alone, and if unrecovered, it would take a significant toll not only on our wallets, but on our psyche too," said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder and CTO of Lookout said in a press release. "Safeguarding your smartphone starts with protecting it from the No. 1 risk you face - losing it."

Losing your phone -- vs. having it stolen -- is far more common, Mahaffey said in an interview. "It's the car accident, as opposed to the plane or train crash, for mobile devices."

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Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/lost-phones-study-pinpoints-problem-cities-518735

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