Posted in Crime News Cybercrime London News Phones UK UK News

How a new ‘SMS blaster’ fraud can target thousands with spam texts in seconds

‘SMS Blaster’ devices trick mobiles within a certain radius into connecting with its signal and use that to bombard them with spam messages.

Læs videre...
Posted in Apple iPhone News Phones Tech UK News

Apple’s new ultra-thin iPhone 17 and iPhone Air go for sale in UK today

It’s so thin you can almost post it in the mail.

Læs videre...
Posted in Apple iPhone Lifestyle Metro newspaper Phones Shopping UK News

Apple reveals the new iPhone 17 line-up – here’s everything you need to know

Do we need it? No. Do we want it? Yes.

Læs videre...
Posted in Apple iPhone News Phones Tech UK News

Apple release iPhone 17 and iPhone Air so thin you can almost post it as a letter

I’m worried what would happen if I sat on it, but Apple say it’s spacecraft grade.

Læs videre...
Posted in Apple News Phones Tech UK News

‘Thinnest ever iPhone’ could be unveiled at Apple Event: what else can we expect?

Apple say it will be awe dropping, but what exactly does that mean?

Læs videre...
Posted in British Government News Phones Tech Terror UK News

Everything you need to know about the emergency alert today

Get ready to hear a piercingly unpleasant noise today, as 87 million phones blare in unison.

Læs videre...
Posted in Android Google News Phones Tech UK News

Google warns millions of Android users after hacker attacks – how to fix it

Cyber criminals currently exploiting vulnerabilities in Android phones.

Læs videre...
Posted in British Government News Phones Tech Terror UK News

Everything you need to know about the emergency alert this weekend

Get ready to hear a piercingly unpleasant noise this Sunday at 3pm, as 87 million phones blare in unison.

Læs videre...
Posted in News Phones UK UK News

EE down today as over 2,000 users report issues with data and internet

There have been hundreds of reports that the EE network is down (Picture: by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

EE customers are complaining of a lack of mobile data and internet signal this afternoon.

Tracking websit…

Læs videre...
Posted in British Government News Phones Tech Terror UK News

Everything you need to know about the emergency alert this weekend

Get ready to hear a piercingly unpleasant noise this Sunday at 3pm, as 87 million phones blare in unison.

Læs videre...
Posted in Friendship Lifestyle Opinion Phones Real Life UK News WhatsApp

I will never apologise for sending 40-minute voice notes

They’re not ‘annoying,’ or ‘self-indulgent’.

Læs videre...
Posted in News Parenting Phones Tech UK News

New smartphone for children will automatically block nudes

It offers another option from the ‘brick’ type phones many have turned to.

Læs videre...
Posted in Food Foodie Lifestyle London Phones Restaurants Social Media UK News

These London restaurants banned phones – and it had an unexpected upside

‘It’s wonderfully nostalgic.’

Læs videre...
Posted in Devon Lifestyle Phones Travel Travel Inspiration UK News UK Travel Wellness

I took my family on a digital detox holiday and something extraordinary happened

You don’t realise how much time can be drained by tech until you don’t have any.

Læs videre...
Posted in Lifestyle Marriage Parenting Phones Relationships Sex TikTok UK News

The ‘three-hour night’ rule could be a gamechanger for your relationship

Lacking quality time together?

Læs videre...
Posted in Meta News Phones Social Media Tech UK News

Full list of ‘data hungry’ apps that are spying on you

‘Users are in fact paying with their data – often in scarily vast quantities.’

Læs videre...
Posted in British Government News Phones UK UK News

The 100-word emergency alert message sent to millions of phones in weeks

This will be the second test message in two years.

Læs videre...
Posted in News Phones UK UK News Vodafone

EE, Vodafone and BT down again for second time in 24 hours

‘I can’t receive or make calls. What’s going on?’

Læs videre...
Posted in News Phones UK UK News Vodafone

EE, Vodafone and BT down again for second time in 24 hours

‘I can’t receive or make calls. What’s going on?’

Læs videre...
Posted in News Phones UK UK News Vodafone

EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three all down in signal blackout

‘I can’t receive or make calls. What’s going on?’

Læs videre...
Posted in Book Club Books Lifestyle Phones Social Media UK News

I started a book club to make friends — now I’m a professional bookworm

We’re in a reading renaissance.

Læs videre...
Posted in Crime News London News Phones UK UK News

Phone thefts hit record high in London with 37 a day snatched in West End alone

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY: Met seizes one thousand stolen phones in a week The Met?s intensifying clampdown on the ?50million-a-year trade in stolen phones has seen 230 people arrested in the space of a week and more than one thousand handsets seized. METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE This compilation includes (+ timestamps): + Plain clothes operation in Soho to arrest phone/pickpocket thieves (00:00) + pursuits and arrests of e-bike phone thieves (00:32) + multiple moped phone thefts in Croydon (01:32) + plain clothes operation in Soho - arrest phone thief (01:50) + Helicopter tracks ebike phone robbers from Westminster to Islington (02:17) + Oxford Circus - plain clothes officers spot phone snatcher in the act and arrest made. (03:07) + Compilation of phone snatches from mopeds - historical (03:39) + Searches and arrest at second hand phone shops in Brixton - possession of stolen phones - Jan 2025 (04:03) + Battersea - Operation to arrest suspects and seize stolen phones (06:18)
More than 81,000 people had their phones snatched in London last year – a record figure (Picture: Met Police)

London’s phone crime epidemic has reached an all time high – with more than 81,000 thefts reported last year.

Data shared by the Met Police revealed that 37 people have their phones snatched in the West End alone each day.

Victims are habitually targeted at key visitor hotspots, with just under half of the devices (40,000) taken in 2024 stolen in the capital’s cultural hub, an area which also accounts for a third of all thefts in London.

The Scotland Yard figures showed a 20 per cent increase in year on year phone theft reports.

More than 230,000 phones have been reported stolen in the capital over the last four years.

But the true picture remains unknown, as many unreported crimes mean the total figure is likely to be far higher.

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY: Met seizes one thousand stolen phones in a week The Met?s intensifying clampdown on the ?50million-a-year trade in stolen phones has seen 230 people arrested in the space of a week and more than one thousand handsets seized. METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE This compilation includes (+ timestamps): + Plain clothes operation in Soho to arrest phone/pickpocket thieves (00:00) + pursuits and arrests of e-bike phone thieves (00:32) + multiple moped phone thefts in Croydon (01:32) + plain clothes operation in Soho - arrest phone thief (01:50) + Helicopter tracks ebike phone robbers from Westminster to Islington (02:17) + Oxford Circus - plain clothes officers spot phone snatcher in the act and arrest made. (03:07) + Compilation of phone snatches from mopeds - historical (03:39) + Searches and arrest at second hand phone shops in Brixton - possession of stolen phones - Jan 2025 (04:03) + Battersea - Operation to arrest suspects and seize stolen phones (06:18)
A thief riding an electric bike snatches a device from a person waiting at a bus stop (Picture: Met Police)
EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY: Met seizes one thousand stolen phones in a week The Met?s intensifying clampdown on the ?50million-a-year trade in stolen phones has seen 230 people arrested in the space of a week and more than one thousand handsets seized. METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE This compilation includes (+ timestamps): + Plain clothes operation in Soho to arrest phone/pickpocket thieves (00:00) + pursuits and arrests of e-bike phone thieves (00:32) + multiple moped phone thefts in Croydon (01:32) + plain clothes operation in Soho - arrest phone thief (01:50) + Helicopter tracks ebike phone robbers from Westminster to Islington (02:17) + Oxford Circus - plain clothes officers spot phone snatcher in the act and arrest made. (03:07) + Compilation of phone snatches from mopeds - historical (03:39) + Searches and arrest at second hand phone shops in Brixton - possession of stolen phones - Jan 2025 (04:03) + Battersea - Operation to arrest suspects and seize stolen phones (06:18)
A pedestrian has their phone snatched out of their hand by a passing thief on a motorbike (Picture: Met Police)

Stolen devices often fall in the hands of criminal gangs that sell them overseas or dismantle them for parts in a £50million black market.

Many thefts are carried out by thieves on electric bikes or pickpockets.

As well as near popular night life spots in the West End, other theft hotspots include Bloomsbury, Waterloo and Regent’s Park.

People are advised to stay on well lit streets which are more likely to have CCTV coverage and keep all valuable items out of sight.

The Met’s new Flying Squad unit arrested ten people involved in phone snatching gangs this week.

Addressing concerns that police aren’t probing cases enough, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said that officers often lack sufficient information and evidence to start criminal proceedings.

Forces instead focus on pursuing gangs, frequent offenders and preventivemeasures, a spokesman told the Times.

Tech firms are also investigating ways to make their devices watertight against criminals, including tools to allow owners to remotely lock and wipe their phones.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

Up Next

A spokesperson for the Met said that while phone thefts had ‘boomed globally’, reported cases were 15 per cent down in London in the first two months of this year compared to the same period in 2024.

They said: ‘We understand phone theft is still a serious problem and has boomed globally. London is not immune, and we are determined to target criminal gangs – many of whom steal phones and sell them overseas.

‘We are continuing to step up our work to prevent and tackle this issue, with increased patrols and plain clothed officers in hotspot areas to deter and catch criminals. We’re also improving the way we as track phone data to identify offenders.

‘Since January 2025, we’ve made 526 arrests of offenders suspected of mobile phone and theft robbery.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Læs videre...
Posted in Android Business Donald Trump donald trump jr News Phones UK News US US news US Politics

Trump launches his own mobile network with a $499 gold phone

President Donald Trump’s family business has unveiled a gold ‘T1 Phone’ and ‘The 47 Plan’ mobile service.

Læs videre...
Posted in Android Business Donald Trump donald trump jr News Phones UK News US US news US Politics

Trump launches his own mobile network with a $499 gold phone

President Donald Trump’s family business has unveiled a gold ‘T1 Phone’ and ‘The 47 Plan’ mobile service.

Læs videre...
Posted in Cost of Living Deals Lifestyle Martin Lewis Money Phones UK News

Martin Lewis warns everyone with a mobile phone contract to check now for ‘dodgy trick’

‘It should be banned.’

Læs videre...