iPhone users issued urgent warning as thieves use ‘reset’ trick on smartphones and Apple is helpless once it’s happened

EXPERTS have warned thieves are using a simple trick to steal everything from peoples' iPhones.

The claims follow a series of police reports of stolen Apple smartphones, where victims' passcodes have been covertly monitored and used to reset its settings - making them irretrievable.

According to investigators at New York Police Department, victims have reported phones stolen out of their hands at public places such as bars and later found they had been locked out of their accounts.

The thieves obtain their passcodes and subsequently reset the victim's Apple ID password in the Settings app. 

They can then turn off Find my iPhone, preventing the owner from tracking it or remotely wiping the device.

The crooks can also remove other devices from the account and set up a recovery key to prevent a victim from recovering its data.

In one case, a thief opened an Apple Card by finding the phone owner's last four digits of their Social Security number in photos.

Alex Argiro, a former NYPD detective, told The Wall Street Journal the crime had become a favourite for local crooks.

He said: "Once you get into the phone, it’s like a treasure box.

"The crime is growing.

"It is such an opportunistic crime.

"Everyone has financial apps."

In response to the spike in thefts, an Apple spokesman said the company had worked "tirelessly" to prevent new and emerging threats.

The spokesman said: "We sympathize with users who have had this experience and we take all attacks on our users very seriously, no matter how rare.

"We will continue to advance the protections to help keep user accounts secure."

Can iPhone users protect themselves? 

Experts have urged iPhone owners to use Face ID or Touch ID when in public to prevent wandering eyes and prying hands.

And if users don't have that feature activated, it is recommended to cover the screen when inputting a passcode. 

Switching to an alphanumeric passcode is also an option, which can be done in the Settings app.