If you think your possessions are safe by hiding your laptop or other electronics out of sight, like under a car seat or in the trunk of your vehicle, think again. Thieves are using Bluetooth scanners to find cars with gadgets inside. They can easily do this by picking up the wireless signals. Many laptops and gadgets will put out a beacon by default when their Bluetooth is turned on — even when closed or idle.
What to do? The safest approach — don’t leave valuables in your vehicle unattended. Turn Bluetooth off when you’re not using it. Keeping it constantly active makes your device more discoverable. As a bonus, keeping Bluetooth off will increase your device’s battery life.
There are a couple of ways to disable Bluetooth on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Bluetooth and switch it off. You can also swipe down from the top right of your screen to open the Control Center and tap the Bluetooth icon. Similar steps work for Android phones: Go to Settings > Connected Devices > Connection Preferences > Bluetooth and switch it off. Note: Steps vary based on your phone’s model. Look or search for Bluetooth if these steps don’t match your phone. You can also swipe down from the top of the screen to display the status bar, then swipe down and tap Bluetooth to switch it off. Airplane mode also disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, among other things, so it works in a pinch — but you won’t receive calls or texts.
Here are a few more ways to protect yourself:
- Unpair Bluetooth devices you’re no longer using.
- Don’t send sensitive information via Bluetooth, as others can easily intercept it. You should avoid sending anything through Bluetooth in public places, even to your friend sitting beside you.
- Don’t accept any files or unknown messages via Bluetooth.
- Don’t accept Bluetooth pairing requests from devices you don’t recognize.
- Keep your devices updated to protect yourself from the latest threats.
