According to a new analysis by Lookout Mobile Security, US smartphone users are seemingly prone to losing their handsets nearly once a year; with the result that their two-year contracts become null and void, and they have to shell out additional amounts to either buy a new smartphone or go in for a used replacement device.

Presenting its analysis on its new interactive `Mobile Lost and Found' website, Lookout said that collected data from its 15 million users worldwide, and uncovered interesting details pertaining to the cities in which maximum number of cellphones are lost, as well as the places and the time when people are most likely to lose their handsets.

Going by the Lookout analysis, the five US cities where smartphone losses are rampant include Philadelphia; Seattle; Oakland, California; Long Beach, California; and Newark, New Jersey.

While the places where the smartphones are generally lost by people vary city-wise, some of the common culprits in this regard apparently are coffee shops; bars; gas stations; garages; grocery stores; and pizza joints. In addition, night-life seemingly has something to do with the smartphone losses, since most of the devices are lost at night --- from 9 p. m. to
2 a. m.

Noting that the loss of a handset is "absolutely the biggest mobile security risk" presently faced by cellphone owners, Lookout's chief technology officer Kevin Mahaffey said: "People lose their phones in the places they go every day. It's not a stray comet from the sky snatching your phone. That's why we wanted to study this."