In a very disturbing event at a grocery store in Colorado, a woman faced the loss of more than just her cell phone to skillful thieves.

The customer, Michelle, who asked to go only by her first name, was shopping at the Trader Joe’s on South University Boulevard in Greenwood Village when she leaned over to grab something from the frozen food section as reported by Fox Denver 31.

“(I) got bumped from the back, turned around and nobody was there. Took about 20 more steps and my phone was gone,” Michelle said.

What followed was a rapid and alarming invasion of her privacy and security. Michelle, initially had her Android phone unlocked using it for a grocery list. However, she believed her phone was secure, having set up the automatic locking feature for after a minute of idle time.

Instead the thieves bypassed all the security features within 20 minutes, which included multiple verification systems that Michelle had confidently relied upon.

“They were able to change all the passwords, block me out of all my accounts and all of my apps, and I had no recourse at that point,” Michelle said.

The situation rapidly escalated as the thieves swiftly transferred $15,000 from Michelle’s savings using a fraudulent Zelle account.

“(I felt) totally helpless. There was nothing I could do,” she said.

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Steve Beaty, an MSU Denver computer science professor, shed light on the situation by explaining that without physical control of your phone, you effectively have no control over it.

He points out that security measures like two-factor authentication and password recovery options can be easily exploited by someone with physical access to an unlocked phone.

“We always say if you don’t have physical control, you don’t have any control,” Beaty said. “The downside with the ‘forgot password’ is it sends you an email, which is on your phone, and then it sends you an SMS, which is on your phone. So, if I have your phone, I have your bank account.”

His advice is clear: it’s safer not to use financial apps on phones that might be easily stolen or lost.

“It’s a mixture of how secure is it, or do I believe it to be, and how much risk do I believe it associated with a particular application?” Beaty said. “I’ll also say, the fewer apps the better.”

The incident at Trader Joe’s was further complicated by conflicting information regarding the store’s security measures. Michelle was initially told by store employees that there were no surveillance cameras, but this was contradicted by a statement from Trader Joe’s corporate spokesperson.

“In Colorado, we have cameras in our stores. We share the footage with the authorities upon request,” Trader Joe’s public relations manager Nakia Rohde said.

This discrepancy was noted by FOX31, which did not observe obvious cameras inside the store, though one was visible outside.

The Greenwood Village Police Department has acknowledged the theft and is conducting an investigation. They also noted an uptick in similar crimes during the holiday season, suggesting that this type of theft is part of a larger pattern.

This brazen theft is a stark reminder for all shoppers as we enter the holiday season. Be mindful of belongings at all times and know that your digital lives can be hijacked, despite our best efforts to secure them.

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