{"id":25212,"date":"2025-08-01T06:56:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/?p=25212"},"modified":"2025-08-01T06:56:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:56:54","slug":"what-is-shoulder-surfing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/what-is-shoulder-surfing\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Shoulder Surfing? The Low-tech Identity Theft Threat You’re Overlooking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Humans are curious creatures, so it\u2019s easy to brush off a nosy stranger\u2019s glance in your direction. The problem is that a quick peek at your phone could be an innocent turn of the head, or it could be a scammer trying to shoulder surf<\/em> your information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about shoulder surfing and how to stay safe from peeping thieves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Shoulder Surfing? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like most people, you probably check your phone out of habit<\/a> more than you even realize. According to recent studies, on average, Americans check their phones 144 times a day and spend nearly 4.5 hours a day<\/a> doing everything from sending emails, playing games, and scrolling social media to paying bills and scheduling important appointments. There\u2019s nothing inherently wrong with that, but doing so in public can open up opportunities for criminals to commit what is known as \u201cshoulder surfing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoulder surfing is a low-tech (or rather no-tech) method for thieves to steal private information from your phone or laptop screen, simply by looking over your shoulder in the hopes of catching a password, PIN, credit card number, or some other stealable bit of info as you enter it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Criminals Do It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a world full of online scams, viruses, and all other types of high-tech thievery, the reality is that shoulder surfing requires nothing but a pair of eyes and people whose guards are down in public. It\u2019s easy, it\u2019s accessible, and it\u2019s all about seizing opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you\u2019re out in public, whether it\u2019s at a coffee shop, restaurant, park, or honestly anywhere else, take a moment to look around and you\u2019ll notice a lot of screens in front of faces. While you see people going about their day on their phones and computers, criminals see opportunity, and there\u2019s no shortage of that for shoulder surfers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Shoulder Surfing Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While plenty of cybersecurity-busting techniques require a certain level of tech-savviness, shoulder surfing is about as simple as it gets. Criminals go to places where people are likely to spend time on their phones and laptops, and simply try to blend in while secretly looking around in hopes of catching some valuable information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on what they\u2019re able to see, shoulder surfers can do a number of things, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n