Moment thief on an e-bike snatches cell from lady on Oxford Street
A brazen phone snatcher stole a woman’s mobile in broad daylight in central London before calmly making off on his e-bike.
Footage filmed by an internet streamer shows the woman standing close to an Oxford Circus Street exit on her way to work looking at her phone.
Behind her a man on an e-bike silently approaches her and grabs her phone out of her hand before escaping.
Visibly shocked the woman jumps slightly and then stands rooted to the spot in disbelief.
Britain, and in particular London, is in the midst of a phone grabbing crisis.
Criminal gangs target members of the public who are distracted by something on their phone and then swoop on them.
Often the gangs use electric vehicles such as e-bikes and e-scooters because they are silent and fast, maximising their chances of snatching the phone and getting away.
In the underworld the stealing of phones is big business, and many handsets end up abroad, where they are broken down for parts and sold on.
The MailOnline revealed how the Chinese city of Shenzhen is at the heart of a lucrative and illicit international stolen phones black market.
Owing to the city’s casual approach to enforcing criminal property laws, gangs can sell the phones on for cut prices or take the phones apart and flog parts.
Due to the city’s focus on technology, it has become known as China‘s ‘Silicon Valley’.
Across the city their are vast markets, some lawful and other legal, offering to sell gadgets, including huge numbers of stolen mobile phones from Britain.
Despite the extensive amount of CCTV covering London’s busiest areas, gangs target people in those locations precisely because they think they will be more safe and have their guard down.
The gangs also operate at music festivals and events where large crowds make it difficult to track movements.
According to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the company Get Phone Repairs, in London Westminster, Southwark and Camden are the worst areas.
Their data shows that in 2023 in London alone, 52,144 mobiles were stolen.
They say that averages as 5.93 phones stolen for every 1000 people in the capital city worth £18.5 million for the year.
Moment the bike thief snatches the phone on his e-bike near Oxford Circus tube station
On his approach: The phone grabber closes in on his silent e-bike clad all in black
Get Phone Repairs founder, Ryan Leston. ‘Keep your phone somewhere safe, like a front jeans pocket, when it’s not in use.
‘Don’t take risks by getting your phone out in areas you feel unsure about. And maybe don’t ask strangers to help you snap the perfect selfie.’
The Metropolitan Police published statistics on mobile snatches for January 2022 to January 2023 there were nearly 90,000 thefts.
Of the 88,949 only 1,915 were recovered and returned to their owner, meaning more than 87,000 phones could have been shipped abroad in just one year from London.
London ‘s ‘most notorious phone snatcher’ Sonny Stringer, 28, from Islington, was jailed for two years after stealing 24 phones in a single morning earlier this year
In little over an hour, Stringer and his accomplice had netted handsets worth around £20,000 by sneaking up behind victims on quiet high-speed motorbikes on March 26
London’s most notorious phone snatcher Sonny Stringer was jailed earlier this year at Isleworth Crown Court.
In one morning he stole 24 phones across London sparking a major police investigation.
Detectives said the phones were worth £20,000. Stringer used high-powered motorbikes which were almost silent to sneak up on his victims.
His reign of terror took him through some of London’s most affluent areas including Westminster, Kensington and Bloomsbury.
One man quickly had his day of sunshine joy cut short as he was targeted by brazen thief on Southwark Road in London
Seemingly in shock and confused, the disgruntled victim attempts to give chase (Pictured)
Last month footage showed another phone snatcher on an e-bike making off with a man’s mobile.
This time on Southwark Street, in south London the thief spotted his target on the pavement looking at his phone and approached him from behind.
Before the victim could do anything his mobile was in the thief’s hands and he was speeding away on his.
Bravely the owner of the phone tried to give chase but could not keep up.
