This is the moment an oblivious man had his phone swiped from his hand by a thug on an electric bike as he strolled down a London street.
The pedestrian was strolling along the Broadway in the Southall area of west London on Saturday when the crook struck.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the thief mount the pavement and ride up behind him on an electric bike, pinching the handset right out of his hand.
The blissfully ignorant man, with his handset in his right hand and a drinks bottle in the other, glances down and spots the culprit in action – but by then it is too late.
As the thief speeds off, the victim seems to be in complete shock – and does not even try to give chase, frozen with his arm held up, as if still holding his phone.
Users took to the comments section of the clip posted to social media, astounded by the man’s dazed reaction: ‘People need to wake up and stop walking along staring at their phones like zombies.
‘You wouldn’t walk along with over £500 in banknotes in your hand yet so many do it with their phone.’
The theft is just the latest in a spate of phone thefts in London – a shocking 66,528 were stolen in the capital between October 2023 and September 2024, Met Police figures show.
This is the moment (pictured) an oblivious man had his phone swiped from his hand by a thug on an electric bike as he strolled down a London street
The pedestrian was strolling along the Broadway in the Southall area of west London on Saturday when the crook struck (pictured)
Shocking CCTV footage shows the thief mount the pavement and ride up behind him on an electric bike (pictured), pinching the handset right out of his hand
Another commenter said: ‘Need to get a phone that explodes when someone nicks it.’
Someone else added: ‘It took him around 12 business days to realise what happened.’
And one more chimed in: ‘He still hasn’t noticed, still scrolling.’
It comes just days after three crooks on e-bikes stole a woman’s mobile as she walked down a backstreet in the Vauxhall area of south London last Tuesday.
The trio dressed in black crept up behind the victim who was chatting on the phone – but she was not aware of them until it was too late.
One of them snatched her phone out of her hand before whizzing off – and the shocked victim had no luck when she tried to chase them down as they fled.
Social media users were terrified by the clip and what it showed about life in London these days, with one saying: ‘You need a 360-degree view in London.’
Another added: ‘Great lesson learned, get off your phone.’
The blissfully ignorant man, with his handset in his right hand and a drinks bottle in the other (pictured), glances down and spots the culprit in action – but by then it is too late
But others were less sympathetic: ‘I’m sorry but if you’re walking around London on your phone not paying attention in 2025 I don’t feel sorry for you.’
Someone else said: ‘Holding [your] phone in public in London is asking for it.’
Since October 2020, cases of phone theft in the capital have been steadily increasing.
Speeding around corners on electric scooters and bikes, gangs of phone grabbing criminals have stolen thousands of devices in recent years as part of a £50million-a-year crimewave.
But in recent months, ‘various operations’ deployed by the police force involving monitoring CCTV footage, increasing officers’ awareness and ’employing’ traffic units and surge teams have brought about a decrease in phone theft.
It comes just days after three crooks on e-bikes (pictured) stole a woman’s mobile as she walked down a backstreet in the Vauxhall area of south London last Tuesday
One of them snatched her phone out of her hand before whizzing off – and the shocked victim had no luck when she tried to chase them down as they fled
A 27 per cent decrease was recorded in November 2024 while, in an even more promising statistic, a 43 per cent decrease was achieved the following month.
‘There’s been various operations by different proactive teams specifically towards two-wheel enabled crime,’ a video posted by the Met Police on X announced.
‘And also just officers on the ground being more aware of it happening and going on the radio. CCTV operators shouting out before they commit offences so we can get the necessary units with the skills down.
‘If a phone pings on a certain location of the map, we can plot the route that they’re taking and where they end up, and then hopefully find out where those phones are going.’
The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.
