‘An e-bike thug stole my telephone… two weeks later it was in China’
A distraught Londoner has described the horrifying moment his phone was stolen ‘right from my hands’ and the confusion he felt when two weeks later it surfaced at an infamous Chinese port.
Sukru Haskan, who was born in Turkey but now lives in London, explained how an e-cyclist grabbed his iPhone 14 out of his hand while he was walking on Brompton Street in Knightsbridge towards his home in South Kensington on July 30.
He told MailOnline: ‘He was on one of those e-bikes and he was wearing these thick gloves and he just grabbed it [the phone].’
‘I’m a fit guy, but I didn’t even intend to run after him because by the time I looked he was so far away.’
Mr Haskan, 41, who works in finance, described how he felt ‘helpless’.
Sukru Haskan posted this picture of his stolen iPhone all the way in Shenzhen, China
In a separate incident in May, a thief on a bike was seen snatching a victim’s phone from her hands in broad daylight at a bus stop in central London
The thief slows down as he approaches them before he snatches the phone out of a young woman’s hands and speeds off
He said: ‘The police came and interviewed me but as they were doing that I could see it moving around London. It makes you lose your sense of trust in our security.
‘First it moved to Hyde Park, then Finsbury Park. I was sending screenshots to police, and then the next thing it was in China.’
Using the Apple feature Find My iPhone, Mr Haskan located his stolen device in Shenzhen – known as China’s ‘silicon valley’.
‘I’ve seen online hundreds of thousands of phones end up in China.
‘I get how you can’t prevent phones being stolen from a metropolitan city. What I’m not happy with is how afterwards, your phone gets transported to a different country with ease.
‘It’s become a large business, a global trade, and nothing is being done. The police closed my case because no suspects could be found, but it’s part of an international crime organisation.
‘People steal things, I get it, it’s normal, but thousands of phones are ending up in China and no one is looking into this.’
MailOnline has approached the Metropolitan Police for comment.
In an eerily similar incident, Emma Hall had her phone snatched by a ‘gang of youths on bikes’ just metres away from her East London flat on Leyton High Street in April this year.
The phone ended up at the exact same address in Shenzhen.
Mr Haskan’s phone appeared in Shenzhen, China, two weeks after it was initially stolen in London
Emma Hall, 44, was the victim of a phone theft on April 29 just yards from her London flat
Emma tracked her phone to two addresses in North London before the device popped up again in China weeks later
MailOnline approached IT and cyber-security expert Thomas Balogun to understand why this might be happening.
He said there are pockets of gangs in the UK who will sell stolen phones to cyber criminals overseas.
‘There’s a strong demand for phone parts in China because of the large population. There’s also less stringent regulations around individual parts,’ Mr Balogun said.
‘Eighty-percent of the time it’s for the components in the phone, to refurbish someone else’s phone or to remake it into something else’.
Maria-Diandre Opre, a cyber-security expert at Earthweb previously told MailOnline: ‘Time and again, I’ve analysed cases where stolen phones have resurfaced thousands of miles away, particularly in countries like China.
‘This isn’t mere coincidence, but a calculated ploy by criminals to exploit vulnerabilities in law enforcement across borders.
‘For smartphone thieves, one of the biggest draws to trafficking stolen devices abroad is the reduced risk of detection. Some nations simply lack the robust legal framework and tracking capabilities to effectively police these crimes. This allows gangs to offload their ill-gotten merchandise with little fear of consequences.
‘Certain regions have well-established black markets dedicated to disassembling, reprogramming, and reselling pilfered phones.
‘These underground operatives possess specialised expertise to bypass security restrictions and wipe devices of their digital fingerprints before flipping them for a profit. Their intricate networks make tracing stolen stock an immense challenge.’
London has been plagued by a terrifying spate of phone snatching in recent months, where e-bike crooks use high-powered vehicles to steal unsuspecting people’s devices and make quick getaways.
Just yesterday a man was caught on camera taking pictures in London before a thug wearing a dark hood snatched his phone straight out of his hands.
A phone snatcher lurks behind a woman moments before he steals her device in Marylebone, London, in April
He swiftly swooped to seize the mobile phone from her hands
Figures have shown that a mobile phone is reported as stolen in London every six minutes.
There were almost 91,000 phones snatched from Londoners in 2022, at an average of 248 a day, with only two per cent of the stolen devices recovered.
Criminals often target pedestrians in busy locations such as outside stations, shopping centres or concert venues, and usually approach from behind, meaning victims aren’t aware of how vulnerable their phone is until it’s too late.
The worst-hit borough was the City of Westminster, where tourists flock for theatre shows and high-end shopping, with 18,863 reported incidents in the year to December – up 47 per cent from 12,836 in the previous 12 months.
Camden was the second worst affected, with 4,806 incidents, followed by Southwark (4,376), Hackney (2,761), Newham (2,585), Lambeth (2,394) and Islington (2,117).
In London as a whole more than 52,000 phones were stolen last year.
Commander Owain Richards for Met Police said: ‘We understand the impact that mobile phone theft can have on victims.
‘It’s an invasive and sometimes violent crime — and we’re committed to protecting Londoners and tackling this issue as we make the capital safer.
‘Met officers are targeting resources to hotspot areas, such as Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with increased patrols and plain clothes officers which deter criminals and make officers more visibly available to members of the community.’
