Brits told to switch on anti-theft setting after police seize 1,000 stolen phones in 1 week as part of £50m crime trade

BRITS person been urged to power connected a fig of theft extortion settings connected their phones aft constabulary seized much than 1,000 stolen handsets and arrested 230 radical successful a azygous week.

Met Police officers person stepped up efforts to tackle telephone thefts with a week of co-ordinated enactment crossed London.

The unit has described it arsenic a colossal £50million-a-year trade.

Hotspots see the West End and Westminster.

Police had already accrued patrols and “plain-clothed operations” successful those areas.

In Westminster, 17 arrests for robbery and theft were made, aft 42 halt and searches linked to the Met’s activity.

And successful Hackney and Haringey boroughs, officers made 15 arrests linked to the operation, including a 15-year-old lad connected an amerciable electrical motorcycle who was recovered with £1,000 successful currency and a ample knife.

Police chiefs privation tech firms to marque stolen phones unusable rendering transgression telephone operations worthless.

“We are seeing telephone thefts connected an concern scale, fuelled by criminals making millions by being capable to easy merchantability connected stolen devices either present oregon abroad," said Commander Owain Richards, who leads the Met’s effect to telephone thefts.

"By intensifying our efforts we’re catching much perpetrators and protecting radical from having their telephone stolen successful the capital.

"But we request assistance from partners and manufacture to bash more.

"That is wherefore we’re moving with different agencies and authorities to tackle the organised criminality driving this commercialized and calling connected tech companies to marque stolen phones unusable."

A tech adept has urged some iPhone and Android users to marque usage of existing protections connected their devices which request to beryllium switched on.

“With an epidemic of telephone thefts crossed the country, Apple and Android are adding measures to assistance trim the problem," Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor astatine ESET explained.

"Apple has introduced Stolen Device Protection which makes it harder for unauthorised entree oregon alteration of delicate settings making iPhones little appealing to criminals but this information diagnostic is not connected by default.

"Android has introduced Theft Detection Lock takes which vantage of newer AI exertion and sensors to observe suspicious question to fastener the device."

"If you find you’ve had your telephone stolen, you should instantly interaction your telephone supplier to termination the SIM paper arsenic good arsenic effort to enactment your telephone into mislaid mode and effort to remotely hitch it.

"It is besides important to interaction your slope and alteration the passwords connected immoderate relationship associated with that phone.

"But unluckily this is not conscionable a exertion occupation and therefore, successful the meantime, telephone security is captious and marque definite your information is ever backed up."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is chairing a acme connected the contented today, with Met Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens.

Officers privation to enactment with tech giants to forestall stolen handsets from re-connecting to unreality services, and to marque a device’s planetary mobile instrumentality individuality (IMEI) fig viewable connected its lockscreen.

Network providers tin usage the unsocial 15-digit IMEI to artifact the instrumentality if it is stolen.

Four members of a pack were sentenced to a combined 18 years successful 2024, aft handling much than 5,000 stolen phones.

They were tracked down by constabulary aft respective victims reported their stolen phones being astatine the aforesaid location.

Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London’s lawman politician for policing and crime, said "personal robbery" has fallen by 13 per cent successful the superior compared to the aforesaid play past twelvemonth but warned "there is much to do".

"As the transgression request for high-value mobile phones continues to turn globally, the Mayor and I are wide that companies indispensable spell further and faster to marque it harder for stolen phones to beryllium sold on, repurposed and reused illegally.

"We’ll proceed to enactment with leading mobile phone companies, the Home Secretary and Met leaders to find innovative solutions to extremity the scourge of mobile phone crime."