Avoiding Phone Theft in London

Stay stafe while using your phone!

London is a global hub for phone theft. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: every LSE student has probably either gotten their phone stolen before or knows someone who has. And we can all agree getting your phone stolen is horrible: it’s expensive, your whole life is on it, and it can be even more stressful if you’re an international student - you don’t necessarily know how to deal with all of that in a foreign country.

However, I am not here to fearmonger: getting your phone stolen sucks, but they are ways to avoid it and ways to react if it ever happens to you!

Some safeguards against stealing

Stealing a phone is most often done either by snatching it from your hands or taking it from you from an open pocket or a table when you’re not paying attention. The phone-snatching bikers of London are infamous for a reason! Here are a few tips I have found work well to make me feel more secure when using my phone in public.

• Never put your phone on the table if you’re at a restaurant or in a café. It’s definitely a more vulnerable spot and you might also forget it’s there!
• Only use your pockets if they are deep enough to put your entire phone in there - and no back pockets either. I know this is a very annoying rule, especially if you’re familiar with the way women’s trousers are made, but trust my experience: having your phone sticking out of a pocket is a sure way to have it disappear on you.
• This is something you will see basically every Londoner doing: if you’re using your phone in the street, to check a map or while standing at a bus stop for example, stand as close to the wall (or as far away from the road) as possible. This helps you avoid any snatchers!
• Consider using a phone strap! This is the tip that has made the most confident about using my phone in public. I’m partial to a wrist strap, as I find longer ones to be more cumbersome, but chose whichever one you’d be most comfortable with. Make sure to choose a sturdy one too, that won’t snap too easily when pulled on.

These tips are simple, but they work well, especially if you remain aware of your surroundings.

How to react if you get your phone stolen

You were careful, but it still happened, and it really sucks. Here’s what you can do to ensure this horrible experience is the least stressful it can be.

• Install your main messaging app on your laptop (or tablet) - that way, you can still contact your friends and family when you no longer have access to your phone.
• Put everything in your phone on a cloud of your choice - this prevents losing your pictures and contacts.
• If your tech is interconnected (for example if they’re Apple products), you can use your laptop or tablet to erase everything on your phone. Most thieves won’t try to get into your phone, but better safe than sorry. You can also report the theft to your network provider.
• If it happened in somewhere like a café or restaurant, you can ask an employee for surveillance video - it could prove useful if you decide to report it.
• You can go to any police station in London to report it. Officers are (unfortunately) very used to this kind of situation and they will guide you through reporting it. You can also report the theft online here: https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-us/theft-damaged-property-or-assault/

While going through all these steps, talk to people you trust! Getting your phone stolen is incredibly stressful and you shouldn’t go though it alone.

And if you’d like to feel even safer, you could consider getting your phone insured. There are several services in the UK that offer phone insurance and they are usually quite affordable (around £10 a month, or even less). They could help cover the replacement even if your warranty has expired. Be advised that to claim insurance, you would usually need to report the theft to the police.

There are several websites that you can use to compare insurance services and decide which one fits your needs and budget best. Make sure your phone isn’t already insured before you buy specific phone insurance!