Where your stolen phones end up: Woman whose phone was snatched out of her hand by masked London phone muggers reveals her shock after tracking down what happened to it next

A woman whose mobile phone was stolen by a ‘gang of cycling youths’ managed to track the phone down at two locations in north London before it turned up in China.

Her phone was stolen from Emma Hall on Stratford High Street, just yards from her flat in east London, on April 29 this year.

The 44-year-old was meeting her husband and a friend at their local pub when three masked youths drove past and snatched her phone from her hand.

Determined to discover where it had gone, Mrs Hall used the ‘Find My’ iPhonee’ app on her iPad to track the phone. But she didn’t expect it to travel this far.

‘It went north London at two different addresses and three weeks later it turned up in Shenzhen, China‘ she told MailOnline.

“I thought it went there to be sold, but I became a bit obsessive about it because everyone was telling me stories about their phones being stolen and turning up in places like Egypt and Marrakech.

‘Initially there was concern because my phone was open when it was taken. They can’t access everything because of facial ID, but they could get into my photos, they could see my text messages and that scared me a little bit.

“I went home and immediately erased the phone.”

A screenshot from Emma’s iPad showing the iPhone transported to Shenzhen, China

Emma Hall, 44, was the victim of a phone theft just yards from her London flat on April 29

Shenzhen is also called the ‘Silicon Valley’ of China due to the number of competing companies in electronics.

IT and cyber security expert Thomas Balogun told MailOnline that there are gangs in Britain selling stolen phones to cyber criminals abroad.

‘There is a strong demand for phone parts in China due to its large population. There are also less strict rules for individual components,” he said.

“Eighty percent of the time it’s about the components in the phone, fixing up someone else’s phone or turning it into something else.”

Emma said the robbers were in their late teens to early 20s, dressed in black with their faces covered, except for one who was wearing a striped T-shirt.

Recalling the incident, Emma said: ‘I had my phone in my jacket pocket and as I was crossing the road I grabbed my phone, literally just to text my husband to say ‘get me a Prosecco, I’m on my way ‘.

Shipping containers and gantry cranes at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province

‘As soon as I did, three guys on bikes rode past me on the sidewalk and one grabbed my phone.

‘The scary thing is that they come so close and so quickly next to you. It happened so quickly and I went to the bar completely shocked.

‘They also broke a nail which really annoyed me and it was a new set so that shows how much force was used to break a nail like that.

‘A witness followed me to the pub and gave me his business card in case I needed it so I could give it to the police, which restored some of my confidence.’

Emma said phone stealing is now an ‘everyday occurrence’ in neighborhoods around Stratford, especially near the Olympic Park, Victoria Palace and Stratford International Station.

‘The exact same thing happened to my friend and they broke his wrist because he was holding his phone. He now had to have metal plates placed in his wrist,” she said.

The phone was stolen from Stratford High Street in East London (pictured)

‘Something needs to be sorted out because people don’t have to worry about going out with their phone in public. There are warnings all over social media now, with people saying, ‘I just saw this kid’ – and some starting to film them.

Commander Owain Richards of the Met Police said: ‘We understand the impact that mobile phone theft can have on victims – it is an invasive and sometimes violent crime – and we are determined to protect Londoners and tackle this problem as we tackle the make the capital safer.

‘Met officers are focusing resources on hotspot areas, such as Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with increased patrols and plainclothes officers deterring criminals and making officers more visibly available to community members.’

London has been plagued by a terrifying wave of phone thefts in recent months, with e-bike crooks using high-powered vehicles to steal the devices and make quick escapes.

Figures show that a mobile phone is reported stolen every six minutes in London.

In a separate incident in May, a thief on a bicycle was seen grabbing a victim’s phone from her hands in broad daylight at a bus stop in central London

In the video, a cyclist dressed all in black rides up to a group of people standing near the Curzon cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West End.

The thief slows down as he approaches them, before snatching the phone from a young woman’s hands and driving away

Nearly 52,000 devices were stolen in the capital last year as criminals use violence and distraction techniques to target victims.

The worst-hit area was the City of Westminster, where tourists flock for theater shows and luxury shopping. In the year to December, 18,863 incidents were reported, a 47 percent increase on 12,836 in the previous 12 months.

Camden was the second worst hit, 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.

Maria-Diandre Opre, a cyber security expert at Earthweb, told MailOnline: ‘Time and time again I have analyzed cases where stolen phones have resurfaced thousands of miles away, especially in countries like China.

In another separate incident, a thief was seen approaching his unsuspecting victim on a bicycle from behind as she walked down Albany Street in central London.

The thief quickly dived to grab the cell phone from the woman’s hands

‘This is not a mere coincidence, but a calculated trick by criminals to exploit vulnerabilities in law enforcement across borders.

‘For smartphone thieves, one of the biggest benefits of trading stolen devices abroad is the reduced risk of detection. Some countries simply do not have the robust legal framework and capabilities to effectively police these crimes. This allows gangs to dispose of their ill-gotten merchandise without fear of the consequences.

“Certain regions have well-established black markets dedicated to dismantling, reprogramming and reselling stolen phones.

“These underground operatives have specialized expertise to bypass security restrictions and erase their digital fingerprints from devices before using them for profit. Their complicated networks make tracking down stolen shares an enormous challenge.”