Mobile phone thefts up by 400 percent in London

Smartphones are quite expensive devices. Our wallets and bank accounts know it, but unfortunately so do criminals. In the UK, phone mobile phone theft is becoming quite a problem, based on figures released by the authorities.

Based on a report published by The Guardian, the police in Islington, one of London’s boroughs, reported a whopping 400 percent rise in crimes involving mobile phones, namely, phone snatching. The 400 percent increase happened over the span of just one year, that is from 157 reported crimes in 2010 to 786 the following year, 2011. The increase may actually be higher because the figure does not even include the last two months of 2011.

According to the police, the most common way these thefts are done by criminals is by approaching their victims from behind, snatching the phone away from the victim’s hand and then running away – or using a bicycle or other means of transportation to make a quick getaway. The time of day is not even that important. The more fearless criminals will even snatch phones in broad daylight.

It is estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 phones are stolen all over the UK annually. But since these are only the number of reported thefts, the real figure may actually be significantly higher.

Although there are no surefire ways of preventing mobile phone theft with any effectivity, many people say that using a handsfree kit for talking over the phone may be a good deterrent because the actual phone unit is left inside the users pocket or bag.

Originally posted on January 23, 2012 @ 11:07 am