Starling has released two new scam tools for its five million customers, designed to keep their money safe from phone snatch-theft and shoulder surfing scams. These tools include a UK-first ‘Snatch-theft detector’ and the bank’s new ‘Safe locations’ feature. The scam tools land as Starling warns that a summer deluge of compromised account fraud is about to hit the UK, where thieves are able to physically access an account through snatch-theft or shoulder surfing. According to the digital bank’s data, there was a 64% increase in funds lost to snatch theft and shoulder surfing scams in the months of June, July and August 2025 via faster payments.* Reports of unauthorised card payments and faster payments also increased by 21% on average in these months for the years 2024 and 2025. A UK-first: Snatch theft detectorStarling’s ‘Snatch-theft detector’ can tell if a customer’s phone has been stolen suddenly, whether that’s by an assailant on a bike, moped, in a car or on foot. Using the device’s inbuilt acceleration detection technology, ‘Snatch-theft detector’ instantly locks the Starling banking app, meaning the phone snatcher is unable to access sensitive account data or drain the customer’s bank account without a passcode or biometric scan. Introducing Safe locationsThe bank’s ‘Safe locations’ feature allows customers to control where they withdraw savings and funds from their Spaces. If a customer sets their home address as a safe location to withdraw savings, they can do so in that location seamlessly, but if they withdraw savings while out and about, a biometric scan is needed first. The tool helps to protect customers’ balances from ‘shoulder surfing’ scams, as without a facial scan, the funds cannot be withdrawn. “Scams are getting more sophisticated by the day, but some scammers still resort to the classics - like brazen theft in broad daylight. While we can’t stop customers’ phones from getting snatched, we can still keep their money safe with these new scam tools,” said Bernadette Smith, Chief Customer and Banking Officer at Starling. Starling’s new tools come as a report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed 272,000 reported incidents of phone theft in the year ending March 2025 - an increase of nearly 16% from the previous year. As phone theft increases overall, Starling is warning customers that it peaks in the upcoming summer months.“It’s a pattern we see every year; people head to festivals, go on holiday and generally get outside more in these months. Phone theft surges as a result, as does the rate at which scammers are able to access people’s cash” Bernadette continued. To help Britons keep themselves protected, here are Bernadette Smith’s top tips for keeping your device, and your bank account, secure. Mix-up your passwords: If the passcode for your phone and banking app are the same, a scammer need only shoulder surf for a few seconds before having all the information needed to access your funds. Keep your passwords and passcodes different across all the apps and accounts you use.Bank on biometrics: Upgrade your password game with biometric log-ins. Using a facial scan instead of a passcode prevents shoulder surfers from gaining your details.In public? Think twice: We all need to bank on the go, but if you’re heading to a busy place this summer, like a festival, busy highstreet or a tourist hot spot, think whether you really need to access your account or, even better, set up your mobile device so that you don’t have to. Banks like Starling let you set up iOS widgets that display your bank and Space balances on your phone’s Home Screen, while virtual cards can be assigned to different Spaces so you can spend and budget wisely on the go.Check your scam tools: Banking apps are full of scam prevention tools, whether it’s AI tools that detect marketplace scams, Call Status Indicators that prevent bank impersonation scams, or Starling’s new Snatch-theft detector and Safe locations tools. Check them out and set them up - before it’s too late!Set up security settings: Your phone is likely equipped with lots of handy security settings, too. Most Android and iOS devices have settings that prevent a thief from switching off a device or turning off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth without unlocking the screen. Make sure Find My iPhone (Apple) and Find My Device (Android) are activated so you can track or remotely wipe the phone if it has been stolen, too.To set up Starling’s Phone snatch-theft detector and Safe locations tools, head to the app and tap ‘Settings’ followed by ‘Security’. Both tools are available in both the iOS and Android versions of the Starling app. Starling’s new scam tools follow the launch of the bank’s enhanced Scam Intelligence AI Agent last month, which was developed with the Tinder Swindler’s Cecilie Fjellhøy to help customers break free of a romance scammer’s spell. The tool was welcomed by UK Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson.NoYesDigital banking07 Jul, 2026