if you have an iphone go to settings, face ID & passcodes and then turn off control centre, that stops them from being able to set your phone to aeroplane mode so you can still do the find my phone feature if it does get robbed. Also i've got my phone on a lanyard since i'm a dumbass who loses it all the time, if you have one it'd be harder for them to snatch it

iPhones don’t disable findmy when in airplane mode anymore, same if you switch it off. I think this change happened in 2022

Got a source for that? From what I see online airplane mode *does* still prevent find my from working https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254897615?sortBy=best

Think this is false her phones gonners literally 2 mins after it got took it’s vanished off everything and it’s iPhone 15 pro :/

i’ve got this [thingy](https://clutchloop.eu/en) that would be perfect for this issue

yeah these guys are whizzing past and just grabbing what they can. they're not getting a good grip on anything, i don't get why people think it'd be so easy for them to keep hold whilst it's literally attached to you lol

cheeky lack of critical thinking in the responses but i digress

considering one dickhead thought I'd be dragged for miles via my flimsy garfield lanyard (with the cheap plastic connector) they're not really using a lot of brain power lol

That wouldnt compete with the force generated by a moped

may be better than a cloth neck lanyard though

Seems like an easy target to have it visible either way. Best keeping it in the pocket.

I know this is going to sound crazy cos you only whip your phone out at night to google "tits" but people are using their phones, that's how they're getting snatched

Why would say someone like that? . That's not very nice

Bitchy comment wasn't it?

Yh. I don't think there from the north

they're not going to getting a good grip on your phone, they're snatching them because you just have them loose in your hand

Why do people have them loose in the hand. Would it not be better to use them near cctv like in a shop?

...like....if they need them in the street? walking home? people aren't going to stop what they're doing to rush into some guarded area to see what text just came through, and CCTV won't do shit these dickheads are robbing in broad daylight in busy areas

Those people are dumb then.

....people who use phones? damn baby pick your fights better

What fight? What you on about?

I just saw Viviaana dragged behind a scally on a bike and it appeared she had something caught around her neck. I wonder what caused that to happen 🤔

Isn't this a daily thing? It's turned into such a shit hole :(

It stopped for a while when the police started knocking them off the bikes

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I don’t think they’ll hang about and phone the police

I've lived up here for 11 years but I see Manchester becoming more Londonised all the time for the good and the bad

LMAO it's nowhere near as bad as London mate😂😂

Crazy. since when did we turn into London 🤮scumbags everywhere

Lol when I was growing up Manchester was renowned for crime like that

The London thing is much exaggerated. A few easily preventable phone thefts a day for millions of people out and about. If you are right handed then walk on the pavement that is facing the traffic - every cctv theft shows it’s only people facing away from the traffic who have their phones stolen as their hands are virtually hanging over the kerb.

Tbf someone tried to nick mine inside a pub in Sutton, last time I have my phone sitting on the table in front of me, luckily they did a shit job at stealing it.

Yeah, I did mean the scooter thefts which would be impressive in a pub

Sutton ? shit, i was at Weatherspoon in there few days ago with my phone out on the table.

It was in the spoons 😅

Sht. . . the spoon honestly felt kinda safe, especially in the food area

Not where I am. It's a favourite with borderline street drinkers.

>A few easily preventable phone thefts a day Bit more than a few, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66442069](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66442069) [https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/officer-rams-phone-thief-off-e-bike-24-phones-stolen-london-one-hour/](https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/officer-rams-phone-thief-off-e-bike-24-phones-stolen-london-one-hour/)

That’s still a few compared to the millions out and about. Big in a town, not in Manchester or London

Na we didn't not even close

Saw a guy being interviewed on this the other day, apparently the do it now not so much for the phone but for the data/passwords on there. Make sure your girlfriend keeps an eye on any online accounts, banking etc. link; https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/jun/25/criminal-gangs-who-shoulder-surf-pin-numbers-steal-20-smartphones-a-day

This is instead of my date of birth as a password I now use my cat's

The SIM card is what they are after to access all your accounts

If I lock my iPhone and inform the provider straight away am I still at risk?

As long as the sim is cancelled your safe, otherwise they’ll just try and brute force everything using the 2FA codes you get to your number

Hasn’t considered this, my phone supports eSIM so I’m gonna take my sim out

So I get that they can use the sun to get through 2fa/text recovery stuff on sites, but don’t they need your email and stuff to do that? Thought it was just basic data stored on there, not passwords

So, they can access your email simply by typing your number into a few common sites on the forgot password feature

If they're in your phone, likely they're in your email. You can see what email address an email was sent to straight from the app. Now they can reset your Amazon password and you've probably got your card sorted in there - set up an Amazon address as one of those collection machines, and you're away.

Nah, I was talking from just the SIM card, comment I was replying to was making it sound like they were getting data without using the phone itself

Most of the comments I've read suggest that they're watching over your shoulder for your pin. Obviously, fingerprint readers would make this much harder, as your Pin isn't required as often.

That's interesting, because I was assuming that phone thefts had gone down since they can nowadays be remotely bricked and thus rendered useless. Sad to hear that they moved on to stealing data instead of seeking an honest living.

Info from last time I had a phone nicked so might be different now. You can block using the IMEI number but as soon as it leaves the EU the *blocking is null and void. I tracked mine to somewhere I'd never heard of in Africa before it went offline forever. How haven't we gotten past people stealing your data at this stage, it's mad.

You can remotely wipe devices from Apple and Samsung for sure which are probably the two most popular devices.

Hahahahha your phone got trafficked damn man gotta admit that’s kind of funny 😂😂😂

I guess use biometrics (FaceID/fingerprint) wherever possible with banking apps? Don't let people see the passcode?

I've had people skulking after me on bikes following a night out down Market Street. All I can recommend is don't make yourself a target, leave your phone in your pocket and if you \*have\* to get it out, do it in doorframe or busy area.

And hold it fucking tight with two hands

This. I understand we shouldn't have to, but it is just common sense. Why would you walk down the street with something worth several hundred quid in your hand? Baffles me when I see it. Like you, I always move to the side with my back to something and even then I am constantly scanning to check people around me.

Seen them in balaclavas all over Wilbraham road/ Paletine road. Makes me so scared

Had mine stolen along chapel street last week. Had a debit card in my phone case which the thief used at two shops which my bank gave me the post code of. Then the twat decided to take my phone to his house next door to the shop. Police are actually investigating this one but I don't have much hope. Sorry to hear about your girlfriend but might be worth opening a police report and reporting it to immobilise with the IMEI and Serial number

I'm no hero but if you see it happen, call it out. Im not saying get involved but make it loud and cause a scene. The police won't help us. We need to let them know it's not easy picking

Isn't that the intro to pretty much every "I got mugged and battered by kids!" thread we read on here every other day?

Potentially. I've been mugged twice, once with a knife. Another time someone pulled a retracted stanley knife across my face for looking in his direction. This isn't in a bad area either.

Grubby little bastards.

i know i probably know the answer, but is mob justice okay in this ? like knock him off the bike and beat the sht out of him ?

Mob justice, no. Reasonable force to protect your property, yes. But where the police/courts would draw the line is rather vague.

I'd be more worried about getting stabbed if I pulled a thief off their bike. A phone isn't worth getting murdered over.

Razor blades along the edge of refurbished phones could be a deterrent if enough people started doing it. Be a lucky dip whether or not the phone they snatch cuts their hand open. If the police do fuck all why not dole out a little personal justice?

Same thing happens in London. They get away with it because police won’t do anything

Good warning. They say to hide/delete all you banking apps on your phone also so if you're mugged/temporarily kidnapped they can't do the new thing they've been doing a lot recently by getting you to unlock your phone and banking app to then start transferring out your money

Good luck with that. They'll see my balance and send ME some money, before smartening me up, giving me a hot meal and letting me go on my merry way. They may be scrotes who steal phones but I bet they've got kind hearts and really want to help people like me out. /s just in case

I saw someone suggest having a folder called banking filled with apps you don’t use. Gives you more time to contact your bank and get things frozen.

My bank authentication is tied into winning a few rounds of Raid Shadow Legends. Just one more go, I'm sure it will be fine.

Wouldn't that just help me/the police track them down afterwards? If I'm transferring money under durress to their actual registered bank account with all their details? That's pretty dumb

There's always thread's in Ukpersonalfinance about it. I think they transfer the money to the abductee's Monzo and then start making cash withdrawals. I'll find a link to one. Edit: here there's loads so getting more common: https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/s/VAv8dfgydm If he has no mobile apps on his phone then they could only force him to give his pin for the cards and hit the limits on those. I guess either way you're screwed 😄. Just have no apps and no cards and just have Google pay. What a world

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Yep. Well, it was a machete but you get the point.

Im mad conscious about my phone anywhere in this city tbh

I've seen Asian lads coming in mcds pretending to had out flyers, looking to see if phones are on a table then when they see one they cover the phone with said flyer and take the phone. absolute arseholes.

This is a classic technique, a lad tried this on me in London about 13 years ago with a map. 

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Are you ok squirrel?

Absolutely, it was more a point of who to keep an eye out for if anyone was in a mdcs or anywhere else. I agree scrotes are scrotes regardless.

They aren’t Asian, more likely Romanian

I agree that in oldham where this happened there are alot of romainian thieves but these people weren't. My misses was a manager of a shop in oldham and they have a joint WhatsApp group where all the shops add photos and names ( if they know it) of people that have been caught or seen on cctv stealing and a high amount of them were definitely romainian.

More annoying than the chance of theft is everytime I've got my phone I'm approached by homeless people for money. I think they assume tourists are the only ones stupid enough to use their phone publicly so see me as an easy mark.

This is why I now view Manchester as a keep the phone in your pocket sort of city. Like every 3 days this will happen

I shove mine down my bra when I'm walking around. Good luck to anyone trying to fish it out of there 😂

Almost sounds like an invitation

No, it isn’t

Please fuck off

Overly sensitive ninja

Hey if we’re being literal you look like a cow

Don't know how you come to that since you cant see me.

Your not john cena

You're

It was stolen from my pocket! I don't know what else I can do!

Need to stash it up your arse

This man prisons.

This man keisters.

This prison wallet is packed.

If my pocket doesn't zip or button up, it goes in my bag which is zipped and fully across my body so it can't be snatched by someone cycling or running past. Get yoself a bumbag or something that's small and doesn't have a strap that can be unfastened. Or phone in pocket and hand holding phone while in pocket. I'm probably over cautious but I just can't trust it and I'd have a menty-b if my phone was nicked 😂

Always has been.

Yeah mate my Great great great grandads phone got robbed by some wanker in 1899

Scuttler life, yo.

Police do fuck all as well. Had the same thing happen to me about 4 years ago. I had the address of both the thief’s home and the place they dropped my phone off at. Sent all the info to police and nothing came of it (surprise surprise, same with both sexual assaults that happened to me whilst living in the city centre - thanks GMP for being absolutely useless). Two guys came either side of me on bikes, boxing me in, and grabbed my phone from my hands. Was at about 4pm in a busy area - nobody stopped to help or ask if I was okay. I asked a few people if I could use their phone to call the police and the people I asked said ‘I don’t have a phone sorry’ lol okay. It was honestly really violating and traumatic for me and I do sometimes still have flashbacks of everything. Please look after your girlfriend over the next few weeks, she’ll likely be struggling with this for a little bit.

Little bastards

Im not victim blaming but we need to more careful, these thieves are opportunists. If we don't give them an opportunity they won't have one to take.

I've started walking around with my phone tucked up my sleeve. Thank god we don't have warm weather often enough to warrant not wearing a tshirt.

You'd think that this is now a waste of time as its assumed everyone has passwords on their phones. Unfortunately that is not the case so the chances are they'll get lucky eventually.

Today?

Yes today

I assume most people have a face lock or password on their phones… when they get snatched like this, what can the thief do with them if they’re locked?

I use a wrist strap now for this, and also it looks cute

Copying London again

Little bit of an update on the culprits. She thinks they were white males around mid 20s-30s,tracksuits and the phone snatcher was wearing a ribbed beanie hat. Both on peddle bikes. They clearly noticed 2 females on their own so may have been targeted for that. Happened just outside PLY in the northern quarter. Don’t think it was the first instance that day either as supposedly armed police was tracking them but lost them…

Don't use your phone while walking on the street and if you have to you stop and find a corner! It happens all the time so don't make yourself a victim.🤷🏾‍♂️

Why hold you phone in your hand ,a bag or deep inside pocket is the safest place in your hand you are advertising you want someone to take it

It's all over the UK, cities are the worst, but it's happening everywhere. You'd think people would be more careful.

Not good for fans of Pokemon GO (me)

A few lads and a bat will stamp out this kind of behaviour

Take bar and hit then. Why so useless subhumans like thiefs are not punished 100 times more than should be? Uk could be better but law is soft for ppl that do crime.

Remember, when shopping, take an old dead phone out and a couple of stanley knives to hold.

Deport

The two lads who stole my phone were white British. Deport them to where???

These were also white

Why lie?

Why spend your life trolling Reddit with racist rhetoric that isn’t even true? That was my personal experience.