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You already know that smartphone theft is becoming super common. This is exactly how it happens.
This robbery happened on a subway in Hungary a few days ago. Apparently the thief there was being filmed because he was acting a little weird, and the camera-person thought there might be some funny business ahead. Unfortunately, the instinct was correct. It’s incredibly suspenseful, even when you know what’s going to happen, and dirty rotten thievery aside, the dude has his timing down.
Fortunately, the video got popular in Hungary, and the thief was caught. Nonetheless, it just goes to show how quick something like this can happen, and how powerless you can be to stop it if the robber knows what he’s doing. Keep your eyes open and hold on tight. You wouldn’t want this to happen to you. [YouTube via Reddit]
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That’s pretty brutal. Still, awesome that he got caught. Sweet justice for the victim, I hope she at least got the phone back and possibly some compensation too!
Having said that, it might have been an idea for the person recording to have pointed it out to the person on the phone, but that would have been pretty awkward.
I think it’s better that he did this, that way he cannot do it again!
Fair point.
Evil genius!
Behind that gormless facade was a cold and calculating opportunist. It’s almost as if he was in cahoots with the train.
Ouch. (Snatch?) After 10 years in the US, I had just returned to the UK, it was 2001 or 2002 and I was on a train from London towards Bristol. I was aware there were two lads sitting two seats behind me – but thought nothing of it. My rather swanky Sony Ericsson J something phone was on the table in front of me and I was working on my laptop I believe, or reading a magazine, I cannot recall. The train began to pull into a station. One of the guys (white skinny with a baseball cap if you must know) then got up and walked past me to head to the exit calmly picking up my phone and calmly walked off the train. His accomplice was in such a position that if I went after the guy who had my phone, he would have been able to grab my belongings that were of course still on the seat being my journey was not complete. It was a lose lose situation for me. The doors of the train closed just as the second lad exited. Me thinks to this day that they wanted me to run after the phone thief, so the other guy could get my laptop. Clever.
It was a shock, because during my 10 years in the US, other than one household and one office robbery, I had never felt unsafe or felt my belongings where – despite all the stuff you see on TV. At the time, people often left their phones on the coffee table in cafes and crime appeared to be limited to specific areas of cities – and of course, involved guns! I later learned that crimes like this were common in the UK (they were not when I left in 1999!) and from that date on, my phone is in my pocket and my foot through the strap of my backpack or messenger bag whenever it is not strapped to my body!
All said, not long after, it happened again – and likewise, caused chaos. I was in a bar – and my phone WAS in my pocket. So guess what? A pick pocket swiped it and only when I went to make a call did I realise.
Both incidents threw my life into meltdown. Back then, phones were not smart, nor backed up. I had essential contacts in the phones on both occasions so was unable to get in touch with business contacts or family members who were expecting a call or visit that day. Today, things are not so bad, our address books are synced with our iCloud, Google+ or SkyDrive accounts on the web so we can access them from another device.
I have in fact noticed that ‘street’ crime like this is much much rarer now here in the UK and believe this is for several reasons:
1. The market for phones is saturated. Back then, a mobile was still a luxury for some and had a good used value so could be re-sold for drug money. Today, there is a glut of basic phones on the second hand market and a thief will not be able to re-sell anything but an iPhone, high end Android or BB.
2. People are a lot more careful.
3. CCTV (That I am in fact opposed to if the recording is not erased within a few days, because strict parenting & policing is a better alternative, but that’s another debate!)
Jeans pants are the best to avoid pickpocketing as the pockets are tighter. It’s much harder for the thief to relieve you of your wallet or phone without you noticing it. Things get a little harder If you need to wear a suit for some reason.
“Hmm, he looks dodgy, i know, i’ll sit here and film him” =/
What else can do you? “Yo bro, you look a little dodgy there. Are you planning something?”
They could have atleast gotten up to comfort the victim, but no, just sat there, still filming.
My guess would be a few moments later the person recording it told her that s/he’d been recording it and gave them some sort of contact detail along with saying they’d upload it somewhere.
Maybe.
That guy is probably a repeat offender, and if so the police should be able to id him from the video easily.
This is why I check my pockets every 2 seconds on the tube.
Matt DeLito posted this a while ago & it’s well worth using: http://www.immobilise.com/
More second hand shops are now using the database to check if a phone is stolen property & it’s helpful for insurance too.
This exact thing happened to me at Finsbury Park Station on the Underground, except I was holding my iPhone 4 in the ‘Apple prescribed way’ (gripped at the top, not the side, to avoid interference. This has become a habit since attenagate) and because of this the guy couldn’t get it out of my grip. He tried very hard, but when he heard the door alarm going signalling the closing doors he ran off. My only regret was having his hand so close to my face while he was trying to rip it from me and not biting down hard on the evil bastard’s mitt.
So, in a way, Thanks Apple!
Anyone that is ‘stupid’ enough to be sitting on a crowded train, in any part of the World, with their phone on display deserves to have it stolen. It’s a dangerous World we live in, and you should know that you are only a few seconds away from scum that will take your phone in exchange for your life.
have you read what you posted? to say that someone deserves to have something stolen is ridiculous.
if you have your expensive belongings on show in your parked car, then yes, it’s more likely to broken in to. nowadays most people know that it’s better to lock stuff in the boot or the glove compartment. but if you leave your mobile phone on the dashboard do you deserve to have it stolen because of your stupidity/forgetfulness? no, absolutely not. that is insane.
Do you ever go outside into the big bad World? Congratulations if you live in a nice rural area with a low crime rate but I do not. Filth and scum are everywhere, and if you are stupid enough to show your ‘trophy’ phone off on a dodgy Budapest train (or even one in the uk) then you are an utter fool.
no i don’t.
Pretty sure it was this guy who tried to sell us an Iphone in central Budapest a few days ago. Loitering outside the big market near Szabadszag bridge, he approached us with the Iphone in his hand, no packaging or anything. He was obviously trying to quickly flog it to a tourist. Poor girl, this guy is a pudding. Glad he was caught.
This is a really, really low thing to do. He is a shit of the lowest order and deserves bad things. Having said that, his timing is amazing!