Suspected phone snatching gang who preyed on victims and stole hundreds of thousands of pounds arrested in dawn raids.
Four members of an organised crime group, suspected of stealing more than £300,000 from victims in a series of high-value phone snatching offences, have been arrested, following coordinated dawn raids by the City of London Police. They are also suspected to have stolen thousands from unregulated crypto assets, leaving victims without the traditional safety nets for financial recovery.
New figures released by the City of London Police show a 40 per cent reduction in the number of phone thefts in the Square Mile in 2025, compared with the previous year. This reflects a sustained and focused commitment to tackling this issue at all levels with increased intelligence led patrols, targeted operations and highly publicised behavioural change messaging.
Officers executed warrants at multiple addresses in the early hours of this morning (Thursday, 26 February), arresting:
A man aged 21 from North London.
A man aged 31 from Northwest London.
A man aged 19 from North London.
A man aged 18 from North London
They were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit fraud between September 2024 and December 2025. All five remain in police custody.
Detective Inspector Kev Hughes, City of London Police, said:
“These arrests demonstrate our determination to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups who think they can profit from stealing people’s phones, accessing their bank accounts and targeting unregulated crypto assets, leaving victims without recourse for compensation.
“Phone snatching is not a victimless crime. In a matter of minutes, offenders can steal not only a device but someone’s money, personal data and sense of security.
“We have already reduced phone snatching by 40 per cent compared to last year, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal — from proactive patrols to complex financial investigations — to drive that figure down even further.”
“We would urge people to turn on advanced anti-theft features on their phones, hide financial apps behind biometrics and always shield your pin in public.”
The arrests follow a complex investigation into a network believed to be responsible for targeting victims across London and beyond, stealing high-value mobile phones before rapidly transferring funds from banking and finance apps. Detectives estimate the group is linked to losses exceeding £300,000.
Investigators believe the suspects were part of a coordinated operation targeting intoxicated members of the public or trying to befriend them and getting them to open their phones before stealing the device and accessing payment methods, bank accounts or crypto currency.
The enforcement action forms part of ongoing work by the City of London Police to tackle acquisitive crime and protect the public from financial harm linked to phone theft.
Further arrests and charges remain possible as enquiries progress.
City of London Police’s phone snatching work also forms a key part of the new three-year policing plan published today to keep people safe and feeling safe. The plan sets out how the force will achieve its vision of ‘a trusted and inclusive police service, keeping the City of London safe and transforming the national policing response to fraud, economic and cyber crime’.
To make stolen phones traceable, the force is offering phone marking that allows devices to be uniquely marked, helping police quickly identify and return stolen phones to victims when recovered.
City of London Police have also continued to put blue plaques on pavements in the City, with the latest around the Fleet Street area, to hammer home the message for residents and workers to look up and look out for phone snatchers.