Niall McNamee was scrolling through his phone on the London underground when a thief on the platform snatched it from his hand just as the doors closed.
Two days later the 30-year-old discovered his bank accounts had been drained by about £21,000 – including a £7,000 loan taken out in his name.
“It used to be people stole a phone so they could sell on a phone,” he told the BBC. “Now it seems they are stealing phones so they can get in to all of your data and take money.”
Niall is not alone – across Britain, reports of theft and robberies on trains and at stations shot up 58% from 2018 to 2023, according to British Transport Police (BTP) data.
The force, which polices the rail and underground networks in England, Wales and Scotland has warned the month of December had the highest number of thefts and robbery reports in recent years.
Superintendent John Loveless said during the autumn and winter months offenders operated under the “cover of darkness” to target people. “The nights drawing in earlier, it gives people an opportunity…for offending,” he added.
BTP says there are three main “gadget-grabbers tactics” to beware of:
- The Plucker – Thief selects a victim who has fallen asleep in their seat and steals their phone without waking them
- The Grabber – Thief watches as victim is distracted and puts their phone on a seat or table, then walks by and steals it
- The Snatcher – Thief stands by the exit, waiting until the train is about to depart and snatches the phone from the victim’s hands and runs as the doors close
London, where Niall had his phone stolen, made up the overwhelming majority of reports of thefts and robberies on the trains last year, but outside of the capital, hotspot areas included Birmingham, Kent, Essex and Manchester.
However, while reports are the rise, the figures, obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, suggest convictions are low.
Of the 23,683 thefts and robberies recorded in 2023, 98% had not resulted in what police term a “positive outcome” or conviction.
Niall, a musician and actor who has lived in London for 12 years, reported his phone theft to police. But he said he did not immediately think to call his bank or cancel his cards.
“They took everything,” he said. “My online banking was showing zero…zero…zero.”
Niall explained the thief had taken out a £7,000 loan in his name from HSBC, then transferred all of the cash to his Monzo account, and then took it all. Transactions showed the thief went on a “spending spree” in an Apple store, he added.
“It’s one of those moments where you just in one second feel a bucket of sweat come out of your head and you go red,” he said.
“It was panic stations for two days. I was on the phone pretty non stop…and then pacing up and down the kitchen. Just trying to get to the bottom of it.
“I’ve no idea how they’d got into either of my accounts,” he added. “It’s face ID and password protected. They managed to take out a loan, which is a laugh because I’ve been trying to get a loan for years and I’m not eligible for one – somehow they managed to.”
Tips to avoid thefts on trains
British Transport Police advises people to:
- Be mindful and aware of what’s going on around you
- Keep your phone out of sight when you’re not using it
- Avoid putting valuables in your back pocket and use zip pockets instead
- Register all your electrical items at immoblise.com
- Ensure stolen device protection is enabled in your phone security settings
- Switch on or install a tracker on your phone, which could help trace your device if it’s stolen
‘Your whole life is on your phone’
Uma Kumaran, Labour MP for Stratford and Bow, told the BBC her constituency had a “problem” with phone thefts and robberies.
“I have had my own phone stolen from me,” she said. “It can happen in seconds. I had my phone in my hand one minute, put it in my pocket and within 30 seconds someone’s brushed past me and taken it.”
“Your whole life is in your phone nowadays…you could class it as a low level, petty crime, but to the person it happens to…you feel like suddenly your whole life is taken off you.”
The BBC filmed with a police task force aimed at catching phone snatchers and witnessed several arrests. One suspect had an expensive phone wrapped in tinfoil in an attempt to block the device’s signal and avoid it being traced.
A month after Niall reported his phone theft British Transport Police said the investigation had ended due to “no CCTV evidence”.
While Monzo reimbursed Niall with around £14,000 of the stolen money, he told the BBC the £7,000 fraudulent loan was yet to be written off by HSBC.
“HSBC don’t seem to understand that I don’t have £7,000 to give them back…they’ve still not been able to explain how a loan was taken out in my name. They have not been helpful at all.”
HSBC has been contacted for comment.