'I watched my stolen phone head to London, Dubai and China'

"Fenella Rawling's brand-new iPhone 16 was snatched during a shopping trip in Cambridge in August. On the device were reams of precious memories of her mother, who has incurable lung cancer, which have now been lost forever as the photos weren't backed up and her iCloud had not been set up. "These are memories that I will never ever ever get back," she said through tears."

"Using an app called Find My, Fenella could see in real time her mobile phone travelling by train to London. A week later, it was in Dubai. Then China. Then came a glut of phishing texts asking her to disclose her account details or wipe the phone. "I don't know how long I will have with my mum," she added. "I don't want to lose anything.""

""It's rich pickings in London," said Paul Brennan, chairman of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. "No one thinks anything is going to happen to them, until it happens to them, that's the problem. The chances of it happening are skyrocketing," he said. "It's always on an electric bike because they can get away so quickly. They're usually all dressed in black with balaclavas and hoods on.""

Smartphone snatches occur frequently on British streets and can compromise victims' digital lives within seconds. Stolen devices often contain irreplaceable personal data when backups and cloud accounts are not set up. Thieves commonly use electric bikes for fast getaways and operate in groups wearing dark clothing and balaclavas. Stolen phones can fetch up to 400 per device and are rapidly moved abroad. Victims frequently receive phishing texts demanding account details or device wipes. Rising thefts are prompting safety concerns, travel cancellations, and prosecutions, with convicted offenders receiving multi-year sentences.

Read at www.bbc.com