If your phone connects wirelessly to a headset, your computer, or any other device with "Bluetooth" technology, you're vulnerable. Here's how it works, according to Wired magazine:
A person strolls past you carrying a laptop and an antenna. If your phone is turned on, they can steal every bit of information in it in 15 seconds. Including your entire address book, calendar, and every stored photo and text message. They can also erase all your phone numbers, make long-distance calls you get billed for, bug your conversations, or simply crash your phone and stop it from working. And they do it simply by tapping into the wireless signal between your phone and headset.

In Europe, Bluetooth phones are particularly vulnerable. Because cell phones are used to make small charges at toll booths and vending machines. A thief walking through an airport could steal 10 bucks from every Bluetooth user in a 20 foot radius and be long gone before the first bill comes. Even worse, antennas made from easy-to-buy parts can send and receive signals from a thousand yards away   and that's more than half a mile!

Phone companies that use Bluetooth technology are trying to keep up. They're issuing software patches, and fixing security problems in future models. But how can you protect yourself in the meantime? Learn how to turn the Bluetooth option on your cell phone off, and shut it down when you're not using a headset or communicating with your computer.