The secrets of the phone thieves terrorising Britain’s streets have been revealed in a sensational interview between a gang leader and Dave Fishwick, the businessman who inspired the hit film Bank of Dave and This is Money columnist.
In the interview, set to be televised on ITV’s Good Morning Britain from 6am this morning (25 June) Dave grills the anonymous criminal who sends teams of youngsters out on to the streets every day to snatch phones.
The gang members are earning up to £2,500 each per day, he reveals, while the leader can be taking in £15,000 to £20,000.
Crime spree: Phones are being stolen and then banking apps hacked for cash
The criminal isn’t interested in the devices themselves, though. The name of the game is to gain access to victims’ banking apps and steal as much of their money as possible before the accounts are blocked or frozen.
It is part of the ‘shoulder surfing’ crime epidemic sweeping the country – known as such because the criminals will approach their unsuspecting victims from behind, hoping to either get their device while it is unlocked, or see them input their phone and banking app passwords.
Fishwick’s interview reveals the huge sums of money being made by the gangs, with the leader Rich (whose name has been changed and identity disguised) claiming that a single one of his workers can steal up to £20,000 worth of cash per day.
How does the phone theft operation work?
The gang leader describes how he has around eight youngsters working for him, who usually go out in teams of two.
Often they are on a moped or e-scooter, in which case they will snatch the phones from victims’ hands at the side of the road. They will hope the phones are unlocked, meaning they have full access.
It is also common for shoulder surfers to approach on foot in a busy place such as at a bar or music festival or sporting event, so that they can see the passcode for the phone being entered before they take it.
‘If a phone’s been snatched, it’s gone,’ says Rich in the interview. ‘Out of your back pocket, in a club or a pub and it’s gone.’
‘I’ve got my little team, they go and bring me phones and I’ll buy those phones off them.’
‘They’re bringing those back to you and what do you do then?’ Dave asks.
Rich replies: ‘They don’t have to bring them to me. They just have to ring me up and say “I’ve got these phones”, they give me the numbers, the details and if they’ve got money on the phones they send them to my account details.’
Once the thieves have the phones, they will rifle through them looking for finance apps and access as many as they can – often changing the passwords and email addresses so that the phone’s owner is locked out.
They will either pass the details back to Rich and allow him to drain the money, or do it themselves and pass the cash on.
‘The boys know now what they’ve got to do, they’ve got to look at certain apps and see if they can change the certain passwords, they give me the account numbers or how much they’ve got of the account and I’ll give them the account number to send it to,’ the gang leader explained.
Teenagers earning THOUSANDS per day
On a typical day, each member of his ‘team’ can swipe 18 to 20 phones and make £15,000 to £20,000 for Rich.
It depends on how much money they can get from the phones, but their typical ‘wages’ for the day will be around £5,000 for a team of two – a figure which Dave describes as ‘unbelievable’.
‘One boy, he’ll go out on his moped with his mate and he’ll bring back three or four phones and then they’ll go out again – three or four phones and they’ll go out again and that’s like fifteen phones on one bike,’ Rich says.
When Dave asks how the youngsters manage to spend £2,500 in a single day, Rich’s answer is: ‘Mopeds, bikes, garms, girls, drink, food.’
Good Morning Britain is also set to speak to a victim of shoulder surfing on the show about the impact this has had on them.
How This is Money has warned on phone thefts
This is Money has also highlighted the stories of readers who have had their phones snatched by thieves than then drained their bank accounts.
In one case, a young reader had £3,900 taken from his Revolut account after his phone was taken during a night out – money that was only reimbursed by the finance app following our intervention. Another reader had £2,050 taken in a similar situation.
Last month, the head of fraud at Santander issued a warning to its customers about the practice of shoulder surfing and gave tips on how to prevent it.
Watch the full interview with Dave Fishwick on Good Morning Britain from 6am Tuesday 25th June on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.
Run a business or got an idea? Ask Dave Fishwick YOUR question
Dave Fishwick, the man behind Bank of Dave, is This is Money’s small business doctor.
Dave Fishwick, aka Bank of Dave, is This is Money’s small business doctor
He is here to answer your business and entrepreneur questions, from how to turn an idea into reality, to starting a side hustle, growing an existing business, or even selling up to cash in.
Dave has years of experience from building up his own successful businesses, to starting Burnley Savings & Loans – the focus of the Bank of Dave TV series and blockbuster Netflix film, and helping out countless other entrepreneurs.
SAVE MONEY, MAKE MONEY
Savings deals
Savings deals
Top rates plus £50 bonus until 15 July
Cash Isa at 5.17%
Cash Isa at 5.17%
Includes 0.88% bonus for one year
Free share offer
Free share offer
No account fee and free share dealing
5.78% savings
5.78% savings
365 day notice account
Fibre broadband
Fibre broadband
£50 BT reward card – £30.99 for 24 months
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.