Don’t lose your head – or your phone – this festive season
Sydney, 29 November 2011 – The results of a five-city survey revealing unusual items left behind in taxis serve as a timely reminder to take care of your precious possessions as festive season celebrations get underway.
Acronis, a leading provider of disaster recovery and data protection solutions, interviewed taxi companies and drivers in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Paris and Amsterdam to find out the weirdest items that had been left in their cabs.
Alongside some extraordinary items, people also regularly leave items from the illegal to the mundane, including condoms, drugs, sex toys, coats and umbrellas.
The most common item left in Sydney and Melbourne cabs was mobile phones. Other items typically left behind included cameras, wallets, glasses and keys. Despite their larger size, mobile devices such as laptop and tablet computers such as iPads are increasingly left in taxis by forgetful owners in a hurry.
Top 5 strangest items: Sydney
- Bedhead and bedfoot
- Wheelchair
- False teeth
- Hearing aid
- Walking stick
Top 5 strangest items: Melbourne
- Whip
- Orthodontic plate
- One shoe
- Underwear
- False teeth
Top 5 strangest items: London
- Dead stuffed monkey
- Drunken man’s sleeping wife
- Gallon of diesel
- Policeman’s helmet
- Bag of cement
Top 5 strangest items: Amsterdam
- €4000 in notes
- Black karate belt
- Cocaine
- Pram
- Bin bag of rubbish
Top 5 strangest items: Paris
- Snake
- A woman who got in the taxi with clothes on and left without them
- Pressure cooker
- Walkie talkie
- Women’s lingerie
“While the most bizarre items might raise a giggle, some of the most commonly forgotten items – including mobile phones and cameras – raise serious issues for their owners, especially if the information and images on them haven’t been backed up,” Karl Sice, General Manager – Pacific, at Acronis, said.
“It’s frightening that items left behind included legal paperwork, briefcases, USB drives, laptops and smart phones. Losing your umbrella is nothing compared to losing the photos and information on your mobile devices, or falling victim to ID theft.
“Your bank will replace your credit card if you lose your wallet and a spare key will get you inside the house, but there is no way to replace data and photos that have not been backed up.
“The best way to ensure your business and personal information won’t be lost forever is to regularly back them up to external drives or to the cloud. That way, even if you can’t recover your device, you can still recover the information that was on it.
“Take care this party season to ensure you and your precious possessions stay safe,” Sice said.