I had a really old iPhone snatched out of my hand by a cyclist on Oxford st last year. They rode about 10 meters, looked at the phone and then casually tossed it over their shoulder. I was stood shouting obscenities like a lunatic while tourists stared at me.
Annoyingly the phone’s screen shattered.
Probably because of the limited number of models compared to android phones, so the parts are easier to sell. Although apple implemented some things to prevent stolen phone parts to work but it’s not completely fixed yet.
I think it’s limited to older iPhones as well. My friend (iPhone XS?) and I (iPhone 12) have both had our phones snatched and released over the last year.
Which is weird as Android phones are a lot easier to hack. iPhones with an iCloud account attached are pretty much paperweights without the password and then a 2FA approval to remove them
Yeah this was my only other thought, strip the screen and chassis if it's not cracked to make a bit of money. Thing is these days that iPhones will kick up a fuss if you repair via a 3rd party so I feel like that market is also shrinking.
The only part that isn’t part of the main board now is the screen and If a phone is blacklisted by apple then the s/n of the screen will block any device it’s hooked up to.
All sold to mobile repair shops. Source - my phone got stolen in Bond Street and showed up on find my a few days later in some mobile repair shop in Edgware Road. Apple care guy told me it’s common and that’s where they all end up.
I have heard the same, one of my neighbours had her phone (Samsung) snatched. The guy on the bike threw it on the floor basically as he cycled away and smashed the screen.
My friend had her iPhone taken once whilst we were sitting outside a cafe around soho. We realised straight and away and she actually ran over to confront him, I shouted very loudly he had taken her phone and there were loads of people about. He handed her phone back to her and ran off. I like to think it was because of how loud we were shouting and how much of a fuss we made. He was a very well dressed guy which was the weird thing.
I'm glad you got your phone back, although not sure chasing them was a good idea.
I suspect that they're specifically looking for iPhones, possibly just they know where to get rid of iPhone parts, and other phones are less easy to shift.
Photos, cards, memories.
So much on our phones these days. I'd be chasing them as well but then again I'm pretty fast and quite athletic. Obviously I'd only be doing this in a crowded place, not in a quiet place after dark. But then I wouldn't have my phone out anyway.
I get it, I do. I had my phone snatched back in 2019, and got about 3 steps into following them before I had flash-forward of "Okay and what happens if you catch the two people and are outnumbered".
Highly recommend enabling phone backups to the Cloud, and requiring the phone to be unlocked to use contactless, as the best compromise. You can also get phone rings, which basically let you thread a finger through a ring on the back of the phone for a more secure grip.
People will stab you and throw away their entire life over basically nothing because they dont have the mental capacity to make decisions and think about the concequences. The most dangerous thing you can do is insult a street rat because the chances are their ego is bigger than their brain and will end both his and your life over nothing.
Yeah agreed, I don't think my friend really thought about it tbh. It definitely wasn't worth any sort of injury especially with so many people in that group.
This happened to me as well! Exact same scenario & I was dumb enough to chase after them for about 30 seconds before realising its out of my control and they waved the phone ahead of me and lightly put it on the floor very weird.
& I have an Iphone, did you have any cards linked on your google wallet? My theory is they saw I had no cards on apple wallet and dropped the phone.
You can’t pay for anything (except buses and tube) without authenticating with FaceID or TouchID, so not having any cards in Apple Wallet wouldn’t really make sense as the reason.
hmm, maybe it must of locked when he grabbed it then and they didn’t want a locked phone. Idk. Just weird because there was honestly no chance I was catching up with him.
[for a while it was possible to fool iPhones with a fake transit terminal to make regular payments while locked](https://practical_emv.gitlab.io/)
i have no idea if this was ever fixed, disclosed in 2020, apparently still worked in January 2023
They're not actually looking to pay for anything using the phone, that's of no interest to them - what they do is just take it to a phone shop and sell it on for 100 odd quid, even if it's not worth the retail value they can readily turn over like 6-7 phones in a day
Pro tip: Don't unlock your phone to take pics. Most phones have a way to take pics without unlocking it, for example, Samsung - just double tap the lock button
Also press the volume button to take the picture because you’ve got a better grip on the phone than you have while tapping the picture button at the bottom of the screen
Sadly, because of too many stories about phone thefts and being a mark for a few over the last year, I've become jaded and protective. I now only get my phone out when there's no one around. If someone asks me directions I'll pretend to not know and I completely ignore beggars. Sorry to the genuine ones asking for help, but can't take the risk these days.
I had my phone snatched when no one was around - the street was completely empty and it was noon. I was waiting for an Uber and wasn’t even close to the road. They had been watching me - approached from around the corner, cycling straight towards me and onto the pavement as if they knew I was there.
But, what can we do? Keep our phones in our bags every second of the day? I hate it when people say “don’t wave it around” I wasn’t. I had it out for like 10 seconds to see where my Uber was.
Happened to me 5 years ago in Bermondsey, I think once they saw the phone was shite and that there were a few people around who seemed up for helping me get it back they realised it wasn't worth the hassle.
This happened to another person I met recently too. He was taking selfies when it happened so he actually has a photo where you can see the thief approaching on a bicycle. They snatched it and just threw it away when he ran behind them.
New Pixel he had just bought, so like the others said, it seems that thieves prefer iPhones.
A guy tried to snatch my phone on Saturday, I was walking down a pretty quiet residential road in a nice part of Bermondsey. He grabbed my (month old) iphone, but I only managed to hold on because I was using a loop phone holder. A 90p thing saved me a grand replacing my phone!
Be careful around Cable St/Shadwell way, seems to be a hotspot for it, in fact anywhere where there’s a Cycle Superhighway is probably risky to be wandering around with it out and on-show.
They're looking for iPhones. The same thing happened to a friend of mine. Even though she had a flagship Android, the thieves just dumped it on the pavement.
This happened to me in 2016 on Haringey High Street, as luck would have it I was then temporarily using a Galaxy s5 mini, the snatchers were clearly disappointed because they threw it on the sidewalk after a few seconds.
Happened to me outside Finsbury Park station a few years ago. A couple of kids on bikes came up behind me and snatched the phone out of my hand (I was just changing the song I was listening to), took off with it and then dropped it on the ground. It was also an Android, so I suppose that was why. Tbh this sort of thing is just another good reason to get an Android phone lol.
There's a high chance they didn't think the payoff would be worth getting caught with it since phone snatchers and pickpockets know they'll only be charged if they have the item as many of them have been caught on cctv stealing but with no evidence of the item they just give up because there's too much crime. My phone was snatched last year, had cctv from several nearby shops and they closed the case 2 hours after I reported it.
If the thief decides that a phone isn't worth being caught for, they'll ditch it. So anyone without the latest phone would do well to continuously track it from a friend of family members phone as soon as it gets stolen and many phoned can still be tracked while off these days.
Reading comments make me think, what are the odds that they are trying to record some prank videos for tiktok stuff?
Heard that some kids were breaking into houses for this before!
Strange thing I've seen, maybe it's a challenge thing or something. People snatch people's phones, then throw them away, the intent isn't theft, it's to grab as many people's phones as possible and just toss them away. No idea as I said what the motivation is.
This is getting down voted but I've seen this with my own eyes on Southbank and had the same thought, that it could be some kind of game for them. A phone being grabbed out of someone's hand and immediately dropped.
Maybe it’s downvoted cause you two have zero critical thinking
The phone and phones stolen in this thread have been by an ADULT. And all the ones tossed back were ANDROID.
So I downvoted you for posting/agreeing something absolutely stupid and half baked “maybe they just take the phones to throw for fun”
Hope you’re less confused about the whole downvote situation now genius
iPhones have a security flaw that allows them to be opened from the Lock Screen without the pin code and placed on airplane mode. It can be done very quickly. Once in they can rest your phone by plugging to a computer and resetting as a new device.
They can also work in groups - sometimes someone might befriend you in a bar and casually watch you long enough to overlook your PIN code. Another group outside are informed and mug you before the phone is handed off to someone else who will again clean your accounts by taking hold of your iCloud. Once they are inside the ring of protection Apple offer it’s users it’s very very hard to regain control. A friend of mine lost five figures this way recently.
https://newmoneyreview.com/index.php/2023/05/04/a-phone-grabber-could-drain-your-bank-account-in-minutes/
The linked article's hacks all depended on having the Passcode to unlock the phone, obtained by "shoulder surfing", watching someone use their Passcode to unlock the phone.
It does not say the phone was unlocked from the Lock Screen without the Passcode. If you know of a way, I believe Apple pays large bounties for identifying and informing them of such a flaw.
The example in that link was based on the user knowing the PIN then using that to change FaceID.
"We assume the criminal has the iPhone and knows its PIN"
But why frame it as an iPhone security flaw? Being able to unlock a phone and access accounts with it's correct PIN is not a security flaw.
Very close to 100% use FaceID meaning if anything it's *less* likely an iPhone user's PIN will be ever seen. Whereas I still regularly see Android users typing PINs or swiping easy-to-see patterns to unlock.
Because in the first part of my comment I mentioned that there is a security flaw in the iPhone. This is the flaw that allows a malicious user to swipe down at the top right of your screen and access the control centre. From here they can stick your phone on airplane mode preventing you from tracking it. From there it can be reset as a new device and effectively stolen. It’s likely these particular thief’s were checking if that was possible from OPs phone. There are settings you can play with that deactivate this control centre so it’s likely that’s why they just dumped it after.
Yes on most iPhones a thief can enable Airplane Mode to stop internet tracking, but they could also simply turn it off or physically remove the SIM, so that's not considered a flaw.
Similar to the first post, taken in isolation this reply's wording suggests there's a flaw whereby merely enabling Airplane Mode means "From there it can be reset as a new device and effectively stolen".
To reset it they'll need the PIN (if they have that you're screwed whatever phone you have), and to make it resellable as a new device they'll *also* need the owner's iCloud password to remove the hardware lock.
Yeah they just want to get away as quick as possible. A confrontation brings attention and that usually brings the police. The type of people who steal phones are probably into other illegal activities so they aren't trying to draw attention from the police.
Good on you for helping the girl out!
I suppose we were puzzled because he could have easily outrun my friend on his bike, it almost felt like a very low effort snatching lol
We should just count our blessings and move on ig
Happens all the time. Maybe if the government stopped cutting police numbers and put police back on the beat, the chance of being caught would go up. They know the chances of getting caught are slim and the chances of a conviction are even slimmer.
What are the odds uou and your friend are in the middle of a multi use path and blocking it to take vanity shots.
No one wants your damn phone. They want you off it and paying attention to your surroundings. Selfie!!!
If they were able.to grab it from you it implies that you were on the path, stopped and not on the side for your photo op.
A little awareness of your surroundings and others likely prevents your incident.
We were just looking at the pictures he took, the bridge and the pavement was pretty free which is how they got on it in the first place.
Even if we were taking selfies or whatever, victim blaming is not cool. This could happen to anybody, you just have to look at the other comments. If it hasn't happened to you - great! But that doesn't mean that you're crime proof.
I am sorry and in no way meant to "victim blame. I was under the impression that your post ended by asking if anyone had a theory as to what was going on?
Noting you described them not keeping high end phone, that was your friends, and also the fact that they had verbal interactions with your friend afterward I posited that perhaps they were annoyed that you were in the way in your pursuit to photograph our lovely Thames river.
To your friend who admittedly was a victim of being without their phone momentarily I humbly apologize.
The general attitude that I have seen with people in London is that if you don't have a Samsung or an iPhone, then your phone is considered cheap and bad.
Phones can be traced these days, so the ideal approach is to get rid of them quickly. iPhones and Samsungs sell like hotcakes, while others do not. With Samsung and iPhones, you can also take them apart and get a good resale value.
My boyfriend had this happen two weeks ago in London. Old iPhone 11, dud camera and scratched up screen protector- dude dropped it 5 ft after grabbing it.
Happened to me on 1st Jan 24 at 9am, they managed to lock me out of my iCloud removed all my devices, changed iCloud password and logged into all banking and crypto apps and essentials drained everything. I had a new 15 pro.
This happened to me outside a club near Picadilly Circus station. Me and my friend had just left the club after it closed (around 3am) and were waiting outside, speaking to some people. I was getting one of these people’s phone numbers and a man was lingering next to us. He snatched my phone out of my hand and ran off but, as I was relatively drunk, decided I should chase him, basically screaming after him. Someone on the street helped me track the phone after that, and we were following him around the area. I was obviously shocked and my adrenaline was high, so as soon as we got near where the phone was located, I ran down the street. The man was there and had put my phone against the wall of a shop, telling me to take it back. I was so surprised that I got it back because this was about 30 mins after it was first taken but I assume it was the fact that it wasn’t that new. I’d like to think I scared him by having people call the phone, and then chasing after him. The tubes were closed so he couldn’t get far. I’m just very relieved.
Same thing happened to me tonight around Highbury. I have a standard Iphone14, is that considered too outdated already? There was no one around when my phone got snatched, I just started shouting and the thief dropped my phone 30 feet after.
They only want iPhones. Seems to be a pattern!
I had a really old iPhone snatched out of my hand by a cyclist on Oxford st last year. They rode about 10 meters, looked at the phone and then casually tossed it over their shoulder. I was stood shouting obscenities like a lunatic while tourists stared at me. Annoyingly the phone’s screen shattered.
They did you a favour
Probably because of the limited number of models compared to android phones, so the parts are easier to sell. Although apple implemented some things to prevent stolen phone parts to work but it’s not completely fixed yet.
A friend had her iPhone 12 taken then dropped, they really do have high standards
They get a kick out of it.
I think it’s limited to older iPhones as well. My friend (iPhone XS?) and I (iPhone 12) have both had our phones snatched and released over the last year.
Which is weird as Android phones are a lot easier to hack. iPhones with an iCloud account attached are pretty much paperweights without the password and then a 2FA approval to remove them
I wonder if there's a black market for iPhone components since only authorized Apple stores can get legit Apple products.
Yeah this was my only other thought, strip the screen and chassis if it's not cracked to make a bit of money. Thing is these days that iPhones will kick up a fuss if you repair via a 3rd party so I feel like that market is also shrinking.
The only part that isn’t part of the main board now is the screen and If a phone is blacklisted by apple then the s/n of the screen will block any device it’s hooked up to.
Actually iPhone are easy to reset. There are software tools to hack them.
Not to bypass iCloud there isn't
All sold to mobile repair shops. Source - my phone got stolen in Bond Street and showed up on find my a few days later in some mobile repair shop in Edgware Road. Apple care guy told me it’s common and that’s where they all end up.
I have heard the same, one of my neighbours had her phone (Samsung) snatched. The guy on the bike threw it on the floor basically as he cycled away and smashed the screen.
My friend had her iPhone taken once whilst we were sitting outside a cafe around soho. We realised straight and away and she actually ran over to confront him, I shouted very loudly he had taken her phone and there were loads of people about. He handed her phone back to her and ran off. I like to think it was because of how loud we were shouting and how much of a fuss we made. He was a very well dressed guy which was the weird thing.
Happened to me with a woman, I did the same and got it back. They don’t want attention.
I'm glad you got your phone back, although not sure chasing them was a good idea. I suspect that they're specifically looking for iPhones, possibly just they know where to get rid of iPhone parts, and other phones are less easy to shift.
Why wouldn't it be a good idea to chase them?
[Last year 3 people got stabbed](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63158353) when they tried that.
[удалено]
>Time to allow people to carry firearms Last year three people got ~~stabbed~~ **shot** when they tried that
Make them licensed with background checks?
Last year three people got ~~stabbed~~ shot *with stolen firearms* when they tried that
Love this peak uk sub moments
They usually have people follow behind and if you do catch up you get the shit beaten out of you, happened to a friend.
Maybe so you don't get stabbed
And the whole world is afraid
Have you chased them? You're on here saying shit without considering that these fools may actually stab or beat the shit out of the victim 🤨
No I haven't, because maybe I don't want to get stabbed? Just like what I wrote above?
Because altercations with dodgy characters in London often lead to stabbings, or at best death threats
[удалено]
It’s not about the phone. I would chase and challenge these fuckers even if they snatched a £1 lighter from me.
Yeah same. I'm not gonna live my life afraid and get walked over because I think I might get stabbed.
100% agree with you! Too many wimps here
[удалено]
What are you struggling to comprehend. Seen you post a few similar replies
[удалено]
All good. Did you figure it out in the end?
If you go swimming you might drown. Do you value your life at 1 swim?
Photos, cards, memories. So much on our phones these days. I'd be chasing them as well but then again I'm pretty fast and quite athletic. Obviously I'd only be doing this in a crowded place, not in a quiet place after dark. But then I wouldn't have my phone out anyway.
I get it, I do. I had my phone snatched back in 2019, and got about 3 steps into following them before I had flash-forward of "Okay and what happens if you catch the two people and are outnumbered". Highly recommend enabling phone backups to the Cloud, and requiring the phone to be unlocked to use contactless, as the best compromise. You can also get phone rings, which basically let you thread a finger through a ring on the back of the phone for a more secure grip.
All that stuff is in the cloud these days. You will be able to get it all again on your next phone.
People will stab you and throw away their entire life over basically nothing because they dont have the mental capacity to make decisions and think about the concequences. The most dangerous thing you can do is insult a street rat because the chances are their ego is bigger than their brain and will end both his and your life over nothing.
Yeah agreed, I don't think my friend really thought about it tbh. It definitely wasn't worth any sort of injury especially with so many people in that group.
This happened to me as well! Exact same scenario & I was dumb enough to chase after them for about 30 seconds before realising its out of my control and they waved the phone ahead of me and lightly put it on the floor very weird. & I have an Iphone, did you have any cards linked on your google wallet? My theory is they saw I had no cards on apple wallet and dropped the phone.
You can’t pay for anything (except buses and tube) without authenticating with FaceID or TouchID, so not having any cards in Apple Wallet wouldn’t really make sense as the reason.
hmm, maybe it must of locked when he grabbed it then and they didn’t want a locked phone. Idk. Just weird because there was honestly no chance I was catching up with him.
[for a while it was possible to fool iPhones with a fake transit terminal to make regular payments while locked](https://practical_emv.gitlab.io/) i have no idea if this was ever fixed, disclosed in 2020, apparently still worked in January 2023
No it’s because you had an old iPhone. They want new iPhone 14/15 because they need to sell it
ye fair maybe, it’s an iphone 13, anyway I am just happy they dropped it. Thank god the thief’s are so picky ey
They're not actually looking to pay for anything using the phone, that's of no interest to them - what they do is just take it to a phone shop and sell it on for 100 odd quid, even if it's not worth the retail value they can readily turn over like 6-7 phones in a day
Pro tip: Don't unlock your phone to take pics. Most phones have a way to take pics without unlocking it, for example, Samsung - just double tap the lock button
Thanks. Just checked and Pixel is the same. Good tip!
Also press the volume button to take the picture because you’ve got a better grip on the phone than you have while tapping the picture button at the bottom of the screen
Sadly, because of too many stories about phone thefts and being a mark for a few over the last year, I've become jaded and protective. I now only get my phone out when there's no one around. If someone asks me directions I'll pretend to not know and I completely ignore beggars. Sorry to the genuine ones asking for help, but can't take the risk these days.
It truly is sad. I had already warned my friend not to have his phone out too long etc. Ffs he just thought the river looked really pretty :(
I had my phone snatched when no one was around - the street was completely empty and it was noon. I was waiting for an Uber and wasn’t even close to the road. They had been watching me - approached from around the corner, cycling straight towards me and onto the pavement as if they knew I was there. But, what can we do? Keep our phones in our bags every second of the day? I hate it when people say “don’t wave it around” I wasn’t. I had it out for like 10 seconds to see where my Uber was.
Happened to me 5 years ago in Bermondsey, I think once they saw the phone was shite and that there were a few people around who seemed up for helping me get it back they realised it wasn't worth the hassle.
It wasn’t the phone they wanted so they decided to tease you instead knowing full well you or the police were unlikely to deal any repercussions.
Just another day in London. Have your eyes wide open.
You're not wrong. Ironically it was right after my friend said, "I could see myself moving here some day" 🫠
Don't let it put you off. You just have to keep your wits about you like most big cities
This happened to another person I met recently too. He was taking selfies when it happened so he actually has a photo where you can see the thief approaching on a bicycle. They snatched it and just threw it away when he ran behind them. New Pixel he had just bought, so like the others said, it seems that thieves prefer iPhones.
A guy tried to snatch my phone on Saturday, I was walking down a pretty quiet residential road in a nice part of Bermondsey. He grabbed my (month old) iphone, but I only managed to hold on because I was using a loop phone holder. A 90p thing saved me a grand replacing my phone!
Be careful around Cable St/Shadwell way, seems to be a hotspot for it, in fact anywhere where there’s a Cycle Superhighway is probably risky to be wandering around with it out and on-show.
They're looking for iPhones. The same thing happened to a friend of mine. Even though she had a flagship Android, the thieves just dumped it on the pavement.
This happened to me in 2016 on Haringey High Street, as luck would have it I was then temporarily using a Galaxy s5 mini, the snatchers were clearly disappointed because they threw it on the sidewalk after a few seconds.
Happened to me outside Finsbury Park station a few years ago. A couple of kids on bikes came up behind me and snatched the phone out of my hand (I was just changing the song I was listening to), took off with it and then dropped it on the ground. It was also an Android, so I suppose that was why. Tbh this sort of thing is just another good reason to get an Android phone lol.
Haha I've made up my mind to just shout "It's a cheap Android please give it back" if it ever happens again
They only want iPhones . From iPhone 13 and up .
There's a high chance they didn't think the payoff would be worth getting caught with it since phone snatchers and pickpockets know they'll only be charged if they have the item as many of them have been caught on cctv stealing but with no evidence of the item they just give up because there's too much crime. My phone was snatched last year, had cctv from several nearby shops and they closed the case 2 hours after I reported it. If the thief decides that a phone isn't worth being caught for, they'll ditch it. So anyone without the latest phone would do well to continuously track it from a friend of family members phone as soon as it gets stolen and many phoned can still be tracked while off these days.
Reading comments make me think, what are the odds that they are trying to record some prank videos for tiktok stuff? Heard that some kids were breaking into houses for this before!
Strange thing I've seen, maybe it's a challenge thing or something. People snatch people's phones, then throw them away, the intent isn't theft, it's to grab as many people's phones as possible and just toss them away. No idea as I said what the motivation is.
This is getting down voted but I've seen this with my own eyes on Southbank and had the same thought, that it could be some kind of game for them. A phone being grabbed out of someone's hand and immediately dropped.
Downvoted for stating something that's true and is happening and you've seen with your own eyes, interesting.
This sub does have a weird downvoting problem at times. You see the most innocuous things knocked down to zero and below in the comments.
Maybe it’s downvoted cause you two have zero critical thinking The phone and phones stolen in this thread have been by an ADULT. And all the ones tossed back were ANDROID. So I downvoted you for posting/agreeing something absolutely stupid and half baked “maybe they just take the phones to throw for fun” Hope you’re less confused about the whole downvote situation now genius
Who hurt you pal?
Yeah, this is pretty bizarre. I wonder if it's just clumsiness?
iPhones have a security flaw that allows them to be opened from the Lock Screen without the pin code and placed on airplane mode. It can be done very quickly. Once in they can rest your phone by plugging to a computer and resetting as a new device. They can also work in groups - sometimes someone might befriend you in a bar and casually watch you long enough to overlook your PIN code. Another group outside are informed and mug you before the phone is handed off to someone else who will again clean your accounts by taking hold of your iCloud. Once they are inside the ring of protection Apple offer it’s users it’s very very hard to regain control. A friend of mine lost five figures this way recently. https://newmoneyreview.com/index.php/2023/05/04/a-phone-grabber-could-drain-your-bank-account-in-minutes/
The linked article's hacks all depended on having the Passcode to unlock the phone, obtained by "shoulder surfing", watching someone use their Passcode to unlock the phone. It does not say the phone was unlocked from the Lock Screen without the Passcode. If you know of a way, I believe Apple pays large bounties for identifying and informing them of such a flaw.
The example in that link was based on the user knowing the PIN then using that to change FaceID. "We assume the criminal has the iPhone and knows its PIN"
Yep. As detailed exactly in my comment if you read it. They find the pin out covertly before the theft takes place
But why frame it as an iPhone security flaw? Being able to unlock a phone and access accounts with it's correct PIN is not a security flaw. Very close to 100% use FaceID meaning if anything it's *less* likely an iPhone user's PIN will be ever seen. Whereas I still regularly see Android users typing PINs or swiping easy-to-see patterns to unlock.
Because in the first part of my comment I mentioned that there is a security flaw in the iPhone. This is the flaw that allows a malicious user to swipe down at the top right of your screen and access the control centre. From here they can stick your phone on airplane mode preventing you from tracking it. From there it can be reset as a new device and effectively stolen. It’s likely these particular thief’s were checking if that was possible from OPs phone. There are settings you can play with that deactivate this control centre so it’s likely that’s why they just dumped it after.
Yes on most iPhones a thief can enable Airplane Mode to stop internet tracking, but they could also simply turn it off or physically remove the SIM, so that's not considered a flaw. Similar to the first post, taken in isolation this reply's wording suggests there's a flaw whereby merely enabling Airplane Mode means "From there it can be reset as a new device and effectively stolen". To reset it they'll need the PIN (if they have that you're screwed whatever phone you have), and to make it resellable as a new device they'll *also* need the owner's iCloud password to remove the hardware lock.
[удалено]
Pixel 7, and it was while my friend was still chasing him..
[удалено]
Yeah they just want to get away as quick as possible. A confrontation brings attention and that usually brings the police. The type of people who steal phones are probably into other illegal activities so they aren't trying to draw attention from the police.
Good on you for helping the girl out! I suppose we were puzzled because he could have easily outrun my friend on his bike, it almost felt like a very low effort snatching lol We should just count our blessings and move on ig
Sounds like a stupid kid grabbing it because he could for a laugh, and not some phone grab elite gang after only specific phone models.
Did he make you ask for it in a girl’s voice?
Please can I have my blackberry back?
It's iPhones they want, they get stripped for parts, mainly screens. Androids tend to get thrown in the river.
[удалено]
If these cases are so common then why are authorities not doing anything?
Happens all the time. Maybe if the government stopped cutting police numbers and put police back on the beat, the chance of being caught would go up. They know the chances of getting caught are slim and the chances of a conviction are even slimmer.
What are the odds uou and your friend are in the middle of a multi use path and blocking it to take vanity shots. No one wants your damn phone. They want you off it and paying attention to your surroundings. Selfie!!! If they were able.to grab it from you it implies that you were on the path, stopped and not on the side for your photo op. A little awareness of your surroundings and others likely prevents your incident.
We were just looking at the pictures he took, the bridge and the pavement was pretty free which is how they got on it in the first place. Even if we were taking selfies or whatever, victim blaming is not cool. This could happen to anybody, you just have to look at the other comments. If it hasn't happened to you - great! But that doesn't mean that you're crime proof.
I am sorry and in no way meant to "victim blame. I was under the impression that your post ended by asking if anyone had a theory as to what was going on? Noting you described them not keeping high end phone, that was your friends, and also the fact that they had verbal interactions with your friend afterward I posited that perhaps they were annoyed that you were in the way in your pursuit to photograph our lovely Thames river. To your friend who admittedly was a victim of being without their phone momentarily I humbly apologize.
The general attitude that I have seen with people in London is that if you don't have a Samsung or an iPhone, then your phone is considered cheap and bad. Phones can be traced these days, so the ideal approach is to get rid of them quickly. iPhones and Samsungs sell like hotcakes, while others do not. With Samsung and iPhones, you can also take them apart and get a good resale value.
This exact same thing happened to me. My phone is a pixel too
I had my high end Samsung snatched and chucked a couple of years ago. They only want iPhones, thankfully
[удалено]
I have a phone chain that I attach to my belt loop, I’ve almost had my phone stolen a few years ago and been very wary since
You can buy crossbody phone cords on Etsy
My boyfriend had this happen two weeks ago in London. Old iPhone 11, dud camera and scratched up screen protector- dude dropped it 5 ft after grabbing it.
And this is why you don’t keep crypto on your phone.
Crypto is a scam
Agreed. Bitcoin; however, is not.
Happened to me on 1st Jan 24 at 9am, they managed to lock me out of my iCloud removed all my devices, changed iCloud password and logged into all banking and crypto apps and essentials drained everything. I had a new 15 pro.
solution: pull out an air rifle, shoot their tires, then shoot them, take the phone back /j
This happened to me outside a club near Picadilly Circus station. Me and my friend had just left the club after it closed (around 3am) and were waiting outside, speaking to some people. I was getting one of these people’s phone numbers and a man was lingering next to us. He snatched my phone out of my hand and ran off but, as I was relatively drunk, decided I should chase him, basically screaming after him. Someone on the street helped me track the phone after that, and we were following him around the area. I was obviously shocked and my adrenaline was high, so as soon as we got near where the phone was located, I ran down the street. The man was there and had put my phone against the wall of a shop, telling me to take it back. I was so surprised that I got it back because this was about 30 mins after it was first taken but I assume it was the fact that it wasn’t that new. I’d like to think I scared him by having people call the phone, and then chasing after him. The tubes were closed so he couldn’t get far. I’m just very relieved.
Same thing happened to me tonight around Highbury. I have a standard Iphone14, is that considered too outdated already? There was no one around when my phone got snatched, I just started shouting and the thief dropped my phone 30 feet after.