Around 78,000 people reported having their phones or bags snatched across England and Wales in the year to March 2024, according to government statistics. That’s a 153% increase from the previous year.
In London, dubbed the ‘phone-snatching capital of Europe’, the experience will be “depressingly familiar” to many in the city, said The Times. According to a recent investigation by The Independent, an average of 180 phones is stolen in the capital every day. So why are phone thefts so common and what can you do if your phone is stolen?
What’s behind the rise in crime?
The last comparable increase in “snatch theft” was in 2002, said John Rentoul in The Independent. Tony Blair and his then home secretary David Blunkett made tackling rising street crime a priority, but what really quelled the epidemic was phone companies “designing it out” by introducing more sophisticated security so that handsets became useless if stolen. “For the best part of two decades, phone thefts ceased to be a significant problem,” but now thieves have found ways around the security.
Once stolen, phones are quickly taken out of the country – they have been found as far away as northern Africa, Dubai and Shenzhen in southern China, where they can be re-sold on the black market. They are also valuable for their parts – thieves can expect to get a couple of hundred pounds just for a screen from a new iPhone, said The Guardian.
What’s more, the rise in the use of illegal e-bikes is making it much harder for police to catch thieves. “E-bikes are capable of doing 50, 60, 70mph sometimes on something the same size as a mountain bike,” Inspector Dan Green told The Independent. “They are really agile and we can’t get anywhere near some of them.”
What’s being done about it?
The Met Police says it is cracking down on the “£50m-a-year trade in stolen phones”. Earlier this month it reported it had seized 1,000 stolen mobiles and arrested 230 people in one week. More teams of plain-clothed officers have been deployed.
The government is also toughening its response. Among the 35 measures proposed in Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s new Crime and Policing Bill, is one that would give police the power to search a property for a stolen phone without a warrant. Officers would be able to act in a “golden hour” to search a location where stolen items have been electronically traced via a victim’s phone-tracking app or Bluetooth. Cooper said victims currently felt “extreme frustration” when tracking technology appears to show them where their stolen phone is, only to be told by police that nothing can be done.
What can I do to prevent my phone from being stolen?
The Met advises people to use their phones for the shortest time possible on streets and to avoid texting while walking. It also urges people to look out for e-bikes and mopeds and to stay away from the roadside.
Use all the security measures that make it harder for thieves to access information from your phone – such as biometrics, like fingerprints or facial recognition. Make sure you know your International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) – the unique 15-digit number used to identify your phone. (Type *#06# into your keypad, or go into the settings app.) You can use this number to blacklist the phone if it is stolen.
You should also check that your cloud storage and messaging apps like WhatsApp are backed up daily, so you can retrieve photos or other personal information in the event of a theft.
What should I do if it’s already been stolen?
Once the phone has been stolen, you should immediately call your network provider and tell them, ask them to block the number and blacklist the IMEI number. Ask for a new SIM card to be sent to your address.
You can also log onto Find My iPhone (for iPhone), Find My Device (for Android) or visit findmymobile.samsung.com (for Samsung) to mark the device as stolen and erase it. Register the phone as stolen on the police website or call 101, as you’ll need a crime number to file an insurance claim. Let your bank know so that they can suspend your banking apps, and change the passwords to your accounts and apps.