Cell phone snatched from my hand - police not helpful

I am so sorry that this happened tp you.

Were you able to contact your cell phone provider and let them know this happened.

Have you gotten another cell phone?

Thank you for warning others.

A good reminder about situational awareness and the need to protect your belongings when out and about. The Tips section of the forum has a section on reducing your risks with pickpockets and thieves. Hopefully, since you have a police report, your trip insurance will cover the loss of your phone.

I wonder if the seeming lack of response could be based on the police officers’ prior experience in dealing with similar thefts and the likelihood of being able to actually find and return your phone? I am assuming that police departments in the UK may face many of the same challenges that we do here in the states with a force stretched thin and having to prioritize serious crimes over petty crimes.

I realize that this isn’t petty to you and it wouldn’t be to me either. So much information is kept on our phones anymore and they are expensive. On top of that there is the extreme sense of violation that comes with such a situation.

Thank you for the reminder to protect our phones when out walking.

Be aware that thieves target tourists, perhaps knowing that the police will do nothing.

When I was in London a year ago, I’d heard that thieves were targeting people who had the newest iPhones because of their value. I reckon that the thieves were more concerned about what phone OP had, rather than where OP is from. In any case, I’m very sorry that this happened to you.

I would be upset to lose my phone or have it stolen while on vacation, but the thieves would be very disappointed once they realize how old and obsolete it is!

What Carol now and Concerned local said. It isn't like the cops are trying to solve a murder or something. I'm sure they just have to prioritize. I worked for a while at an Urban College in Boston. The modus operandi of the perps was to ask a student what time it was. Those much younger than I will typically take their phone out of their pocket/bag to look. While the phone is out, the thieves snatch it from the student's hand. We called it "Apple Picking."

So sorry that that happened to you, john. With advances in phone technology, it’s too bad there’s not yet an App that would cause a stolen phone to explode red dye onto the thief, like packs of stolen bank money.

Or maybe a severe electronic shock. Or perhaps an ear-splitting screech if the thief put the phone to their rear. Or maybe a phone could ooze a super superglue, permanently adhering the phone to their body - amputation being a potential way to remove the phone from their person.

I think you need to be realistic about what to expect from police. While it was no doubt shocking, no-one was (thankfully) hurt. Leicester Square is a crowded area, and yes, criminals do take advantage of that - I try to avoid having my phone out if possible. Police have many more serious offences to investigate than a stolen phone.

the phone is nothing more than a brick to the thieves. Best they can do is pawn it for a few bucks for parts

This isn't true. There would be very little incentive for thieves to snatch phones if it were. I ended up talking to someone who you'd consider a "roadman" [a guy from the streets in London parlance] a little while back and that was one of the the things I asked him about. A recent model phone can have a value of a couple of hundred quid to the thief. Every neighbourhood will have "a guy" that buys them and has the knowledge and tools to deal with a bricked phone. They'll then go off in bulk to countries, possibly in the Indian subcontinent or Africa, where the value can be 10x that of its value on the street in London.

I'm of the opinion that the Met Police do their best with limited resources. I'd be pretty disappointed if the addresses that find my phone indicated weren't noted by a constable as part of the report, even as a way of helping others in the future when their phones ping from there and evidence builds that may warrant a prosecution.

Definitely not a tourist thing, but since this particular incident happened in Leicester Square, it's easy to make the assumption that that location was chosen because it's mostly tourists there. Everyone walks around with their phone in their hand these days, often with earbuds in. It's a risk lots of people take on a daily basis and 99.9% of the time it's perfectly safe.

OP. I hope you have recovered from the trauma of the incident and you didn't suffer too much loss, other than the device itself.

The OP may have have left the UK, but for future reference, a charity called Victim Support here provide a 24hr line you can call to help deal with the after effects of crime.

Victim Support +44 8 08 16 89 111 or on the web at https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/

If the proper safeguards are in place the stolen cellphone can never be used as a cellphone again - just parts - and that's a fact.

Eh. I'm just repeating what I was told by someone who [edit: redacted a little bit here! Sorry!] My natural inclination is to believe them rather than the anonymous person on the Rick Steves forum. Sorry.

In parts or not, stolen phones aren't going anywhere near pawn shops. These aren't petty thefts by people that need to steal to feed a drug addiction. These are folk that are travelling up to Westminster from other boroughs with the purpose of robbing phones in Leicester Square and feeding the industry in their ends [neighbourhood] I talked about in my earlier post.

At the end of the the day, it's a moot point when you've had your phone nicked anyway. I don't want to talk about it any more, lest it take away from the sympathy I feel for the OP's plight. Thanks for engaging anyway.

I'd just like to add, the UK has an independent body that handles complaints about the police. You can find them at -

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/

If the service you received from The Met was less than satisfactory it may be worth getting in contact with them.

I knew about this problem in London but I do the same everywhere.

My phone stays tethered in my pocket. If I need to get it out, I stop, move to the side near a building, look around and then get my cellphone out.

The back has a ring stand on it and a finger goes through it not just to prevent me dropping it but to also make it difficult for grab and run. I constantly look around to see if anyone is too close or looking at me.

I don't listen to music while walking because I believe it is imperative to be aware of your surroundings using all senses available. Fortunately, I'm not at an age where if I can't check Instagram every ten seconds I go through something similar to drug withdrawals.

Additionally, anyone walking slowly on a busy street, staring at their phone without looking up, and have some type of listening device either in their ears or over their ears so they are oblvious to everything around them should be denied the ability to breed. We don't need more of them.

This has been a very interesting discussion.

As I read the responses, I am reminded that it seems like "everyone" which is an exaggeration is looking at their phones occasionally looking up to see that they might not be bumping into someone.

Locals are probably reading text messages and emails.

Visitors the same along with google maps and other apps on getting around and places to go, eat, shop, etc.

Letting your guard down, not being aware of your surroundings makes you an easy target.

The fact that some phones now cost about $1,000 makes them very valuable and attractive to thieves..Probably no thief is interested in a $99 flip phone.

For some people, their whole life is in that phone. It is a real loss to lose it and how do you report it to your provider if you are a tourist in London who has just had your phone taken.

GerryM is partly correct insofar as stating that stolen phones aren't typically being sold for parts. Without elaborating a stolen phone can be very useful to a thief and it's value isn't the phone itself but rather the data within. Suffice to say, if your phone is stolen then it's advisable to change all your important passwords.

Most CITY addresses are apartment buildings. Are they going to search every apartment, spending thousands of dollars in labor for a $400 phone? Well, at least the UK does not have a Bill of Rights! Your expectation of prompt effective justice may be unreasonable.

How do the thieves know you are holding an expensive up to date phone? Are they that obvious to the trained eye? I wouldn't be able to identify a newer vs older phone from a distance to save my life--but I guess I never required that knowledge. I carry around a now rather antiquated I Phone 7 with few apps on it. Should I not be as worried about phone theft since I am using an old phone? It seems like walking around in a crowded area, oblivious to surroundings and who is near you, and focused on your phone would be cause for concern no matter the age or capabilities of the phone.

It's not the model of the phone that's relevant but rather the data within. A locked phone is useless for selling on but if the thieves can access your banking passwords etc then that opens up a whole world of potential.

Travel wise, London isn't particularly plagued by pick pockets in comparison to continental Europe however opportunistic phone snatching is an issue. In London I'd be more concerned about having my phone out on display than I would about someone trying to gain access to my bag or pockets. Due to the sheer number of CCTV cameras covering London most thieves choose to conceal their identity by use of hoods, scarves, facemasks etc so it's worth being mindful of such people.

Edit: For the OP, I'd recommend removing the crime reference number from your post. It serves no purpose to forum members but it does open up the potential for mischief from others.

This could happen in any city in the world, it’s not only London. You just have to use your common sense anywhere you go. I use my phone for all my pictures, which is usually about 1,000 every year. I usually have the most updated iPhone available to have a great camera, so I just keep my phone out of sight when I’m not using it.

Thank you for the helpful comments, and for your concern. I am glad that my experience can serve to help me and others travel more safely in the future.
A hotel employee told me that the police in London (& UK generally?) are supposed to acknowledge receipt of a crime report within 48 (maybe 72?) hours, and later inform victim of any follow up. Neither of these has happened in my case. I just checked my contact information on the police report: it is correct. So it appears that those who commented on police priorities & limited funding are correct.
The hotel employee used their computer to help me report to Apple and shut down access to the phone within one hour of it being stolen. This protected my financial information. I learned how important it is to have those protections in place.

Accessing the data on a phone and using it for nefarious purposes is a whole other crime altogether. I'd respectfully disagree that this is where the value is. Your average 16-25 year old nicking phones (or fencing them for that matter) is going to have very little interest in getting into that sort of fraud, or the skills to pursue it. I know that personally, even if you've got the pin to open my phone, (unlikely if you stole it from me) accessing my banking app needs something that isn't a clear text password.

Without getting too deep into the technical side of it, nice phones live again under a new identity, probably not in the UK, though every hole in the wall phone shop in London will have some stock of used phones. That $1000 new iPhone in the US is a $4000 new iPhone in India and other markets. Old phones or the terminally unrecoverable will also leave the country whole. The industry of breaking phones for spares and scrap metal is centred overseas. Nobody in the UK will be doing that.

A poster mentioned pawn shops further up. There's very few traditional licenced pawn shops left in London. Cash Convertors is the chain that's on every high street. They require photo ID to pawn anything and your mug will be all over their CCTV. Games consoles and lower end phones may end up here by way of trades people are doing for rocks and tenner bags. Anyone who cares about getting caught will avoid this avenue.

I'd be wary of saying to watch out for anyone with a hood and a ski mask. Your friendly Deliveroo rider will also probably fit this description, especially as we are coming into to some chillier weather. It's a very common look amongst the youth.

OP, just saw your post as I was typing this. Your crime number is your acknowledgement from the police. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that they will follow up any further on your incident. The crime number is standard procedure to satisfy the needs of insurance companies.

This is one reason that I don't put any financial information on my phone, or use it to access bank accounts or credit cards.

My phone is an I Phone 11 and probably worth on the open market no more than a couple of hundred dollars.

When overseas, I can only use it when I have wifi, so It wouldn't be in my hand in public.

.<<<>>>That $1000 new iPhone in the US is a $4000 new iPhone in India and other markets. >>>>>

How could this possibly be true? Are there no iPhones sold in India? And, if you have $4000 to spend on a phone in India you are most certainly at the top of the heap and able to find a new phone.
Is this like thinking you can sell your Levi’s for $500 in Europe?
Misinformation.

On the Apple India site a brand new iPhone 15 pro is listed at 134900 Indian rupees, which is $1618.

On the Apple India site a brand new iPhone 15 pro is listed at 134900 Indian rupees, which is $1618

My apologies. The 4 grand figure was hearsay I was repeating without actually looking. Still, $1618 is a lot of money. You're going to be at the top of the heap in India if you can afford to drop that on a phone. Heavily discounted used phones imported from Europe are probably still going to quite appealing, while being worth considerably more than they are as a "hot" phone in London.

Anyway, this thread is straying a little too far from travel for my liking now. I've contributed to that!

All I would say is that in fifteen years of living in an inner London borough, and visiting for many years before that, I've never been a victim of crime, nor a witness to any crime. I sympathise with the OP and it's sad that it happened in London for me as someone who lives here. Please don't let it put you off visiting or relaxing and enjoying your time while you are here though.

Also to be blunt, the cops have a lot of serious matters to worry about. Your phone is important to you, but in the scheme of things, it barely rates with them.

This is why there is insurance, and as noted try to brick the phone remotely and change important passwords. And this is also why you should make sure the photos you're taking with your phone are being backed up somewhere in the magical cloud and not living in the phone.

Stuff happens. The hard part is the inconvenience of no phone.

Question: why is cell phone snatching so common in London (I confirmed this when I was at Agar St police station, and with hotel employees) but not in New York or other cities that I know? A likely answer is some combination of 1) organized groups trafficking the phones to Asia and 2) little being done by London law enforcement. I believe the posts that say law enforcement views these as petty thefts. Is it petty when substantial amounts of money are involved? My phone had recently been purchased in the US for $1,100.
GerryM, I appreciate your several thoughtful and informative comments. However, I do think the issue of law enforcement is relevant to travel. Travel choices include cities that have better protections, and cell phones have become essential for travel - bookings, Ubers, information on flights, etc. A tourist is at a substantial disadvantage if they have to keep their phone in their pocket when navigating the tangle of streets in central London.

Question: why is cell phone snatching so common in London (I confirmed this when I was at Agar St police station, and with hotel employees) but not in New York or other cities that I know?

Organised crime groups. These phones aren't being stolen so some kid can make a few quid by selling it on. The value is in the data (the SIM is very useful in this regard if the phone is blocked). There most likely isn't the same type of groups in NYC or other cities you're referring to. Paris has its pickpockets whilst London has its phone snatchers.

However, I do think the issue of law enforcement is relevant to
travel. Travel choices include cities that have better protections,
and cell phones have become essential for travel - bookings, Ubers,
information on flights, etc. A tourist is at a substantial
disadvantage if they have to keep their phone in their pocket when
navigating the tangle of streets in central London.

I don't know where the OP is from, but compared to the crime situation in many US cities (and well documented on this forum) this really needs to be taken in perspective.
It is simply not fair to label London as dangerous in such a manner.
Is the OP really saying that his home PD would investigate this any differently, or prioritise it over murder, drug crimes, gun crimes etc?

How does the OP think people navigated the "tangle of streets" before I-phones? Oh yes, they used paper maps, and navigated by eye, not eyes down on an i-phone. Doing that you were also more spatially aware.
Before Uber you hailed a black cab on the street- something you can still do. Etc.

I think that people have an over optimistic impression of what "find my phone" can tell you. You think "look it's right there" so the police can go directly to it. It just isn't that accurate- I've seen 3-20meters stated which in a city isn't all that great. You mention seeing it at 4 different addresses, the ease of hiding and moving phones seems to be the probable reason the police won't waste time chasing it down. Right now at home "find my devices" says my husband's phone is in my next door neighbor's house and both of our laptops are across the street in our neighbors front yard. That's in suburbs, can you imagine in a city?

why is cell phone snatching so common in London (I confirmed this when I was at Agar St police station, and with hotel employees) but not in New York or other cities that I know?

Isn't it because of guns? Unless I'm mistaken, non-violent thefts are quite rare in US cities? You're much less likely to involved in a violent incident when neither the perpetrator nor the victim has the inclination to use weapons.

In city the size of London there just isn't the resources to investigate every crime of this nature. If there's any violence involved whatsoever it becomes helluva lot more serious and will move further up the priority list.

However, I do think the issue of law enforcement is relevant to travel.

Yes, me too. I was referring more to my blah blah about the ins and outs of what goes on. The points made about what happens to a phone once it leaves your hands aren't terribly important to the victim.

Organised crime groups. These phones aren't being stolen so some kid can make a few quid by selling it on.

Eh. Not sure where you're getting this information. The source I based most of my assertations on was a young guy I met in a local park while I was drinking a coffee and eating a sausage roll. I sat and chatted and smoked with him for a half hour or so and I specifically asked him about phones because I knew he was "on road" and I was curious. He might have been making it all up of course. At no point did he mention harvesting or selling data.

The kids making a few quid selling it on are a part of the organised crime though. The young lads blagging phones in the west end are as much a part of that as their peers (or maybe themselves on a Tuesday) running county lines.

If you were in the SF Bay Area in public, on BART, or on the street, holding and using your iPhone with no awareness of where you’re standing, no awareness of people around you, holding your iPhone casually, there is a good chance your iPhone will be taken.

The police cannot protect anyone if they use their iPhone like that out in public. Not here, and not there.

It is all about street smarts.
The responsibility is on the iPhone user.

No police dept in this area would do anything if your iPhone was stolen here.
They have wayyyy more serious crimes happening which they can’t even keep up with.

As Periscope has said, if you have every safeguard in place on an iPhone, it is useless to others except maybe for parts. Apple’s security is second to none and no one can access your data.

I use an eSIM card ! What data of value ?

With a victim's sim in a phone you can receive authentication/security codes via text. It doesn't take much imagination to think of the possibilities.

@GerryM - My knowledge comes from my time as a detective.

My knowledge comes from my time as a detective.

Haha it's a fair cop guv! My apologies for doubting you :-) It wasn't my awareness that data theft was a particular aim of phone theft to the same degree as just getting the device itself. When you mention organised crime, you probably already know where my mind goes as a Londoner. Not the same people I'd generally associate with phone theft.

To reduce the "fear" that we seem to be creating.. When you are chasing it around with "find my phone' you can just erase it! We do this and brick with our company managed profile when people lose phones and I can tell that recovery is incredibly difficult (We've had some very upset people)

If your iPhone or iPad is lost permanently or was stolen
Change your Apple ID password: Sign in to appleid.apple.com, then choose Sign-in and Security from the sidebar. Select Password and follow the instructions.
Remotely erase your iPhone or iPad: If you have access to a trusted device or a family member's device, erase your device with Find My. Otherwise, erase your device from iCloud.com/find.
If your iPhone is covered by AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss, file a claim for an iPhone replacement. Don't remove your iPhone from Find My or your Apple ID until your claim has been fully approved.
Report it to local law enforcement. They might request the serial number of your iPhone or iPad, which you can find even if you don't have the device. Learn how to find the serial number of your device.
Contact your wireless carrier to report your missing iPhone, ask them to disable your account, and file a claim if your iPhone is covered under your wireless carrier plan.
Remove your iPhone or iPad from your trusted devices: Sign in to appleid.apple.com, then choose Devices from the sidebar. Select your device, scroll down, and select Remove from account. If you filed an iPhone Theft and Loss claim, don't remove the iPhone from your trusted devices until your claim has been fully approved.

And where would those be coming from if the user no longer has their phone.

Without going into details it's a widely known hack amongst those who wish to engage in such criminal activities. Your iPhone isn't as invincible as you'd like to believe.

Ain't no one getting into my iPhone or personal data and that's a fact. Bye Bye.

I wouldn't be so blasé, there are people out there who know more than you. No phone, iPhone or otherwise, is 100% thief proof.

It's easy to reset an Apple ID if you have the victim's SIM card, you don't need to know their passcode. Once the ID is reset the thief has a lot of information at their fingertips.

This is turning into a ding dong between two people, both of whom have fixed views. Both have stated their views several times, which is less than productive to the OP.

I believe the posts that say law enforcement views these as petty thefts. Is it petty when substantial amounts of money are involved? My phone had recently been purchased in the US for $1,100.

It is not petty to you or me, but unfortunately it is a low priority for the police. I think this is mostly due to the limited resources of the police. I suspect that the same thing would happen in the U.S. based on my experience when my car was vandalized; the police just took the report over the phone.

My wallet was pickpocketed coming out of a crowded tube station when I lived in London. I filed the police report over the phone and got a copy of it. That was the only interaction with the Metropolitan Police that I had.

I am sorry this happened to you. When you are a victim of a crime, even just a theft, it makes you feel violated and angry. I hope you were able to enjoy the rest of your vacation despite this setback.

Thanks for providing this report. I use my phone all the time in crowded places for photos and maps. I could easily see this happening to me (or any other tourist with a smart phone).

Yep, you won't get much attention in most of the United States. I have a friend who was robbed by someone doing work at her house. Well over $10K worth of stuff taken. Several weeks just to get the police to come do a police report. Sad but true

I use an attached wristband. Hopefully I won’t loose the phone along with my arm.

Diane, In 2003, we were on the back of the tourist train vehicle in Montmartre, Paris. Had a video camera (size of a point and shoot camera) with a wrist band around my wrist and i was videotaping the ride. A guy, about 18, ran alongside the vehicle just for a moment and grabbed my video camera while i was taping. He didn’t realize it was attached to my wrist. I held on, he held on, vehicle kept moving, although slowly, and finally i got it from his grasp. Turns out he had a group of friends nearby watching who all laughed at him because he failed and was foiled by a wrist band. So yes, wrist bands work if they’re strong enough… : )

I had my Iphone nabbed in Athens last year. First morning we flew in. Heppened the second I put phone in my purse pocket. I know now a man was watching as I was stumbling on smooth rocks on Mars Hill. I was afraid of dropping it…so got it barely into outer purse pocket and yep….gone and so was he! My husband cancelled with Verizon asap on his phone….they told him the SIM card was already removed…but no data breach. All was blocked. We never reported it to police. Figured oh well…Chalked it up to tourist getting unlucky. (And I sure knew better to be cautious but) Frustrating….brand new phone…but mostly was thankful I was not injured or even touched. I still enjoyed our time in Athens! Not fearful the rest of our trip! Stuff happens…anywhere….

"...there is a good chance your iPhone will be taken" How true. Plus, that chance increases depending on which district or area in SF you are in when behaving in a clueless way with your iPhone.

Another reason for not pulling out your phone out in public.

Snatch-and-grab theft, anywhere, is likely to leave next to no clues. Police might supply a report for your insurance.