Thefts of mobile phones have tripled over the past four years, see new data, since criminal gang members driving e-bikes help feed a thriving export trade to countries such as China and Nigeria.
More than 70,000 telephones were grown in the streets of London in 2024 alone, from an estimated 100,000 thefts in the United Kingdom.
About 70.137 devices were stolen in the midst of a scourge of criminal gangs who use e-bikes and scooters to increase a large number of telephones to sell abroad for parts.
It is thought that telephones from telephones can cost consumers up to £ 70 million every year.
The data, from a FOI request to the with Police, is considered an important underestimation of the true scale of the problem, because it only includes thefts reported to the Force.
Shockingly, around 40 percent of all London phones find off in Westminster and the West End.
Victims of the crime come from all layers of life, with celebrities, including Lady Victoria Hervey and Kym Marsh, who reveal their handsets earlier.
Lady Victoria Hervey told how her phone was taken in Pimlico after leaving a London Fashion Week event.
More than 70,000 telephones were grown by London in the streets of London in 2024 alone, from an estimated 100,000 thefts in the United Kingdom
Thieves have followed racing over the capital, although 40 percent of thefts take place in just one town
She said that a man on an e-bike pulled the device out of her hands and added: “It was such a shock.”
And yesterday, Kym Marsh told Morning Live how she had stolen her phone two weeks ago at Buckingham Palace Road.
She said: 'It is good and scary to happen to you, you walk on a road and then suddenly something has been taken out of your hand.
“And that was about fourteen days ago that mine was taken. But luckily I was fine.
“I felt really vulnerable, I was really shaken. I wanted to get help right away, but of course it is not that easy if you don't have your phone. '
She then started sharing her destruction when losing messages sent to her father for her father, and added that she will never get [them] back'.
The efforts made to raise his reaction to the phone from the phone, and have increased the officers' patrols in the hardest areas.
Last month the Force arrested 230 people and grabbed 1,000 devices in a Blitz of a week.
Lady Victoria Hervey previously told how she had thrown her phone away after leaving a London Fashion Week event
Kym Marsh told yesterday how her phone was stolen out of her hand fourteen days ago
It also uses data from telephone tracking to determine that handling stolen devices.
The government also looks at the issue, with the crime and police account including measures with which officers can immediately carry out a real estate investigation, instead of waiting for a search order in suspected telephone thefts.
The officers still need the approval of a senior to perform a search.
It comes after victims have reported to hand over location data to police officers of their stolen devices, only to do not take action.
The Force recently cut a criminal gang that, according to them, handled more than 5,000 stolen telephones.
For a period of 18 months, Zakaria Senadjki, 31, Ahmed Abdelhakim Belhanafi, 25, Nazih Cheraitia, 34, and Riyadh Mamouni, 25, were in the middle of the frightening trend of gadget grip that the capital weeping.
Their crimes amounted to no less than £ 5.1 million, an investigation by the Police discovered – with many of the devices that are assumed to have been sold abroad.
The four men were all imprisoned in November to a combined total of 18 years behind bars.
Zakaria Senadjki, 31 (left) and Zakaria Senadjki, 31 (right) were imprisoned for their share in a criminal gang who handled more than 5,000 stolen phones in November
Ahmed Abdelhakim Belhanafi, 25, (right) and Nazih Cheraitia, 34, (Left) were also imprisoned last year for their share in a telephone criminal group
Anna Mceltee, from Comparethemarket.com, the comparison website that conducted the investigation, said: 'Londoners and those who visit the capital will be concerned about the considerable rise in telephone thefts last year. Criminals are becoming more and more cheeky in the city and often use mopeds or e-bikes to make a quick outing.
'Given the increase in thefts, it is worth checking whether your phone falls under your existing home insurance. If this is not the case, you may want to buy a separate telephone insurance policy or add personal belongings to your policy when you come to renew, “she said.
The National Police Chefs Council recommends that people secure their phone using the security functions to prevent someone from using it when it is stolen. Owners can use their international identity number of mobile equipment to block a stolen device that is used. The number can be found by typing *# 06# in your phone keyboard.
