A PHONE theft victim who had thousands of pounds stolen is backing a campaign to encourage people to take simple steps to protect their devices and finances.

Kush Chaudary’s phone was stolen by a group of men outside a bar in Soho after he got talking to them in the early hours.

The group waited until his phone was unlocked before snatching it and – within minutes – thousands had been plundered from his accounts including a £5,000 transfer to a crypto wallet.

They also took out fraudulent loans of £22,000 and later used Apple Pay to spend around £8,000 on designer clothes and electrical products.

Mr Chaudary said: “With my phone unlocked they targeted anything they could gain immediate access to, including my bank and crypto accounts.

They were even able to take a loan out in a matter of seconds, ready to spend as soon as the shops opened up.

“Seeing that unfold in front of my eyes was difficult.

“This was hard-earned savings I had that was being spent by strangers and I felt very exposed and vulnerable as I didn’t know when it would stop.”

Four members of the gang involved in Mr Chaudary’s theft, in September 2023, have been convicted and jailed but the Metropolitan Police Service said it is seeing a rise in such crimes involving people’s mobile banking apps.

In some cases accounts have been completely cleared and applications for loans have been made.

The MPS said the gang in Mr Chaudary’s case had been responsible for up to 60 other thefts and robberies in central London between December 2022 and November 2023, and had stolen a total of £225,000.

They have suggested three simple steps people can take to protect their phone.

These are:
— turning on the “stolen device” and “anti-theft” protection features in phone settings;
— using strong passwords for high-value applications; and
— watching out for people looking over you when you are on your phone.

They said they continued to focus on tackling phone theft across the capital.

“A recent two-week focus on prolific offenders resulted in 292 arrests across London”, they reported.

Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto from the economic crime team said: “The Met has stepped up its work to prevent and tackle phone theft in London, with targeted patrols and plain-clothed operations in hotspot areas and improved use of phone-tracking data and intelligence.

“By intensifying our efforts we are catching more perpetrators, but we know it’s still a serious problem and I encourage everyone to take these simple steps which could help prevent significant financial loss and fraud.”