A study by Kaspersky Lab has shown that almost half of gadgets on the secondary market in Russia contain personal data of previous owners. Buying such a computer or smartphone can have consequences for both the seller and the buyer, as it makes them vulnerable to fraudsters.
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The report says that when selling their used gadgets, Russians often leave their personal data in the memory of the devices, and in some cases, corporate information. Among those who bought gadgets from hands on the secondary market, 41% of respondents found information in the memory of the devices related to previous owners. Most often, this concerns personal photos and notes that were not deleted before selling a smartphone or laptop. In some cases, former owners forget to log out of their accounts, and sometimes they left corporate data that could harm the employer.
According to Dmitry Kiryushkin, head of BI.ZONE Brand Protection, data left on devices being sold can fall into the hands of fraudsters, which is especially bad if passwords, bank card details, photos of documents, etc. were stored on the device. Such information can be used for illegal actions, such as stealing accounts. “These accounts often become a source of valuable information. Attackers can send messages from someone else’s account on behalf of the user asking to transfer funds to the entire list of contacts,” the expert said.
Secondary electronics market experts recommend preparing the device in a certain way before selling it. To do this, you should make a backup copy of the data stored on the device. In the case of a smartphone, it is best to remove the SIM card and memory card, delete the eSIM data if the owner used it. Then you should enable two-factor authentication for all accounts that support this function, and also log out of all accounts, including banking applications, social networks, email.
“It is extremely important to reset to factory settings or format the gadget. But it is worth noting that in some cases the data can be restored even after such operations. It is better to study how to delete information so that it cannot be restored on a specific device. Depending on its type, model and configuration, this procedure may differ,” said Dmitry Galov, head of the Russian research center of Kaspersky Lab.
The expert noted that storing data on the device can also pose a danger to the buyer. This is due to the fact that the seller can accuse him of malicious use of personal information or even set up such a situation. The fraudster can deliberately leave links on the device, clicking on which will lead to theft of data or other negative consequences, ranging from theft of information to the creation of fake profiles.
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