A survey by Credant Technologies has found that over the last six months, 55,843 mobile phones and 6,193 other devices including laptops were forgotten by London black cab passengers. Thankfully, about 80 per cent of surveyed taxi drivers claimed that owners were reunited with their missing item once found, but having your hand-held device in someone else’s hands still poses a huge security threat for the owner.

Fraud experts have said that such devices could give criminals crucial data with regards to the theft of your identity. New convergent devices can store tens of thousands of documents and millions of contacts and emails, making them a prime target for identity theft hackers.

Another survey by credit reference agency Equifax found that 16% of its customers saved PIN numbers on their mobile devices while 24% kept birthday dates. Probably not good practice if you take a London cab everywhere.

Apart from the mountain of iPods, drivers have also found a sawn-off shotgun, 12 dead pheasants, two dogs, toilet seats, a casket of funeral ashes and £2,700 in cash in the back of their cabs. If these were all found on the same cab run, I’d be asking for a change of area.

Source: BBC News