By IDG Enterprise

Thieves grab 157 smartphones in London every day -- and half are iPhones

January 16, 2013 2:24 PM

Criminals in the Britain's capital city are stealing 157 mobile devices every day of the week, an astonishing 79 of which are iPhones, new statistics from London's Metropolitan Police have revealed.

In the six months to September 2012, a total of 56,680 mobiles were stolen from users in the city, 28,800 of which were desirable and easy-to-resell iPhones.

In December, the latest month for which figures have been compiled, crimes involving mobile device theft had reached 9,751 for the month, mostly from young professionals between the ages of 20 and 30, with women the most likely to be targeted by thieves.

Why The Mayo Clinic Standardized On iOS
FINAL WEEK to register for CITE! Don’t miss the Sunday interactive workshops.

The numbers form part of a growing pattern of robbery, including pick-pocketing and snatch crimes during 2012, which reached 17,583 for last December.

To back up their point, the Met released extraordinary CCTV footage of a criminal on a mountain bike stealing a mobile phone (Windows Media Player file) from a pedestrian just south of the Angel Islington tube station before she is aware anything has happened.

According to Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Letchford of the Metropolitan Police, smartphone users were too lax about putting expensive technology on show, an advertisement to become a victim.

"We're trying to make people think differently with this campaign - having your personal possessions on show gives robbers a chance to make easy money," he said.

Seventy percent of stolen items were accounted for by phones alone, especially the coveted iPhones.

Originally published on news.techworld.com. Click here to read the original story.
Reprinted with permission from news.techworld.com. Story copyright 2013 news.techworld.com communications. All rights reserved.
Latest Stories
May 25, 2013 11:51 AM

10 shocking things I learned using Google products exclusively

Getting off Apple and going all Google has increased my respect for both companies. I've come to realize that the very best mobile experience right now is built on a foundation of Google services on Apple hardware. I wish only that these two companies could get along better, and that Apple will allow more Google integration on the iPhone.

May 24, 2013 4:14 PM

Excel: Microsoft's best weapon against Tableau and competitors

New data visualization apps for Excel 2013 could help Microsoft hang on to customers looking for better data visualization tools.

May 24, 2013 3:53 PM

Microsoft isn't crazy to think it could sell 25 million Surfaces next year

Surface has been a stiff so far, but Microsoft reportedly has big expectations for its next fiscal year. Here's why the company may not be crazy.

May 24, 2013 10:27 AM

How an internal social network helped one agency fight terrorism

Flickr by UNC-CFC-USFK

The global law enforcement agency needed a secure, global network where crime and terrorist information could be shared among its members. It found an answer with the enterprise social network, tibbr.

May 24, 2013 9:54 AM

IT must act like a fast-moving startup

Brandon Porco, the chief technologist for defense contractor Northrop Grumman, says that IT will have to try lots of different things and move quickly to keep abreast of evolving employee needs. "Google has it very well-patterned: Launch and iterate."

May 24, 2013 8:41 AM

Enough with the silly myth about Apple hating the enterprise

Although Apple is often accused of not being an enterprise company, it's only in the last few years that Apple has abandoned its enterprise-oriented products. The real story may be that Apple's discovered that making enterprise-focused efforts simply don't deliver a huge return on investment.

FOLLOW US
Get CITEworld updates via email, RSS or social media