One in Three Experience Mobile Device Loss or Theft. Do People in ‘Party Cities’ Lose More Phones?

A new survey from Symantec has revealed that 36 percent of consumers in the United States have either lost their mobile phone or had it stolen.

According to the survey, Miami is the city with the highest rate of cell phone loss or theft against the 20 most populated cities in the U.S. In Miami 52 percent of respondents said they have experienced cell phone loss or theft. New York and Los Angeles were the #2 and #3 cities in the survey with 49 and 44 percent of respondents experiencing loss/theft respectively.

Is it me, or do Miami, New York and Los Angeles have the reputation of big time party cities? Any correlation here? I’m thinking that many of these missing mobile phones have ended up under cushions of posh couches at South Beach night clubs or left in the back seat of a cab on the way to an after party. But how is Las Vegas not in the Top 20 List? Perhaps people know better and don’t even take their phones out with them?

Unfortunately, the survey also revealed that 87 percent of respondents could neither remotely lock nor remotely wipe their phone’s memory afterwards and more than half (54 percent) of all smartphone users did not password protect their phones. Yikes.

Along with the survey results, Symantec released Norton Mobile Security 1.5, a product which gives users the ability to locate and remotely lock or wipe an Android phone. It also includes antimalware functionality that scans for malicious applications or spyware, and enables call & text blocking features to help you avoid annoying or unwanted calls and text messages from that guy you gave your number to after a few too many.

The Top 20 US Cities For Cell Phone Loss or Theft Are….

1. Miami – 52%

2. New York – 49%

3. Los Angeles – 44%

4. Phoenix – 41%

5. Sacramento – 41%

6. Chicago – 40%

7. Dallas – 39%

8. Houston – 37%

9. Philadelphia – 36%

10. Tampa – 36%

11. Cleveland – 36%

12. Boston – 35%

13. San Francisco – 35%

14. Atlanta – 34%

15. Orlando – 34%

16. Denver – 34%

17. Washington DC – 31%

18. Seattle – 31%

19. Detroit – 31%

20. Minneapolis – 29%