A woman whose mobile phone was stolen by a ‘gang of youths on bikes’ managed to track it down to two locations in North London before it popped up in China.
Emma Hall had her phone stolen on Stratford High Street on April 29 this year, just yards from her East London flat.
The 44-year-old was meeting her husband and a friend at their local pub when three masked yobs rode past and snatched her mobile out of her hand.
Determined to discover where it had gone, Ms Hall used the ‘Find my iPhone’ app on her iPad to track down the phone. But she didn’t expect it to travel quite as far as it did.
‘It headed to North London at two separate addresses and then three weeks later it popped up in Shenzhen, China,’ she told MailOnline.
‘I imagined it had gone over there to be sold on, but I got a bit obsessive about it because everyone was telling me stories about their phones being stolen and turning up in places like Egypt and Marrakesh.
‘There was a concern initially because my phone was open at the time it was snatched. They can’t access everything because of face ID but they could get into my photos, they could look at my text messages and that freaked me out a bit.
‘I went home and erased the phone straight away.’
A screenshot from Emma’s iPad showing the iPhone which had been transported to Shenzhen in China
Emma Hall, 44, was the victim of a phone theft on April 29 just yards from her London flat
Shenzhen has been referred to as China’s ‘Silicon Valley’ for the number of competing businesses in electronics.
IT and cyber-security expert Thomas Balogun told MailOnline 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,’ he 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’.
Emma said the muggers were in their late teens to early twenties, dressed in black with their faces covered, apart from one who wore a striped t-shirt.
Recalling the incident Emma said: ‘I had my phone in my jacket pocket and as I crossed the road I took my phone out, literally just to text my husband to say ‘get me a Prosecco, I’m on route’.
Shipping containers and gantry cranes at Yantian port in Shenzhen, in southern China’s Guangdong province
‘As soon as I did three lads on bikes went right past me on the pavement and one grabbed my phone.
‘The scary thing is they come so close and fast next to you. It was just so quick and I went over to the bar all shook up.
‘They broke a nail too and that really irritated me and it was a new set so that just 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 him so I could give it to the police, which restored my faith a little bit.’
Emma said phone snatching is an ‘everyday occurrence’ in neighbourhoods around Stratford now, particularly close to the Olympic Park, Victoria Palace and Stratford International Station.
‘My friend had the exact same thing happen to him and they broke his wrist because he held onto his phone. He’s had to have metal plates put in his wrist now,’ she said.
The phone was stolen on Stratford High Street in East London (stock picture)
‘Something needs sorting because people shouldn’t have to be worrying about going out with their phones in public. There are warnings all over social media now with people saying ‘just spotted this kid’ — and some are starting to film them’.
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.’
London has been plagued by a terrifying spate of phone snatchings in recent months, where e-bike crooks use high-powered vehicles to steal the devices and make quick getaways.
Figures have shown that a mobile phone is reported as stolen in London every six minutes.
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
In the video, a cyclist dressed all in black rides up to 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 he snatches the phone out of a young woman’s hands and speeds off
Nearly 52,000 devices were stolen in the capital last year as criminals use violence and distraction techniques to target victims.
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.
Maria-Diandre Opre, a cyber-security expert at Earthweb told MailOnline: ‘Time and again, I’ve analysed cases where stolen phones have resurfaced thousands of miles away, particularly in countries like China.
In another separate incident, a thief was seen approaching his unsuspecting victim on a bike from behind as she walked along Albany Street in central London
The thief swiftly swooped to seize the mobile phone from the woman’s hands
‘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.’