Phone Theft Rising in Europe

Gangs are harvesting expensive mobile phones from pubs and clubs in major European Cities every weekend — the majority of which are then sold abroad.

Criminals are regularly traveling to locations to steal phones from unsuspecting revelers.  
Some groups are targeting clubs and pubs at weekends and public holidays to swoop on valuable smartphones such as Samsung and Apple.

The gangs  stay with friends or in budget accommodation in order to keep the costs down and ensure a profit — with some leaving the cities on the same evening having secured their bounty.
The phone thieves typically work in twos and threes, targeting packed nightclubs.

It is believed over two thirds of phone thefts occur during weekend nights in pubs and clubs.
Those who are “harvesting” the phones then take them to another person who organises the re-sale of them.

In many cases, the phones are sent abroad to prevent them being traced from the countries they are stolen from.

And in other cases, the phones are stripped down and different pieces from different phones are swapped around, resulting in a totally different phone.