Why phone theft is back in the headlines in 2026
Phone theft has had a rough few years in the UK. 2026 is the year the numbers finally started moving the right way. Police forces, Apple and the government have all made moves this year to make stealing a phone a much less rewarding crime, and that shift is worth understanding whether you live somewhere it happens a lot or not. This guide covers what’s actually changed, what the current phone theft numbers look like, and the handful of settings and habits that make the biggest difference to your own risk.
None of this is about scaring you off your commute. It’s about five minutes of setup now versus a very bad afternoon later.
How common is phone theft in the UK right now?
Phone theft is still common enough to matter, even though the trend in London has turned a corner lately. The Office for National Statistics recorded 152,416 theft from the person offences in England and Wales in the year to 2024. That’s the highest total since current recording methods began in 2003, and mobile phones accounted for more than a third of those offences.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales separately estimated around 78,000 “snatch thefts” of phones and bags in the year to March 2024. That’s roughly 200 a day, a rise of 153% on the year before (checked August 2026, House of Commons Library research briefing).
The encouraging part is what’s happened since. The Metropolitan Police says London recorded around 14,000 fewer phone thefts in the twelve months to mid 2026, an 18% fall. Thefts in the West End are down by roughly half, thanks to targeted policing, ebike seizures and a new partnership with Apple aimed at making stolen handsets harder to resell (checked August 2026, gov.uk and Metropolitan Police).
Phone theft numbers at a glance
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Theft from the person offences (England and Wales, year to 2024) | 152,416, highest since 2003 | ONS |
| Share of those offences involving a mobile phone | Over one third (36%) | ONS |
| Estimated phone or bag “snatch thefts” (year to March 2024) | Around 78,000, about 200 a day | Crime Survey for England and Wales |
| London phone thefts, most recent 12 months | Down around 18% (roughly 14,000 fewer) | Metropolitan Police |
| West End phone theft change | Down by roughly half | Metropolitan Police |
All figures checked August 2026. The picture is genuinely mixed. Theft is falling where police have thrown resources at it, but it hasn’t gone away, and it’s still worth locking your phone down properly.
What’s the easiest way to protect your phone from theft?
The single easiest step is turning on your phone’s built in theft protection, because it does the most work for the least effort. On iPhone that’s Stolen Device Protection, which Apple has expanded so it’s switched on by default on recent software, adding extra biometric checks and a time delay before a thief can change your password, sign out of your Apple ID or reset the phone while it’s away from a familiar location (checked August 2026, Apple and Metropolitan Police).
Android has an equivalent theft protection suite built into recent versions, covering similar ground: a locked screen after suspicious movement, remote lock using your phone number, and factory reset protection that keeps a stolen phone tied to your account. If you haven’t checked your settings in a while, this is worth five minutes.
Beyond the phone itself, a strong screen lock (a proper passcode, not a four digit one) and biometric unlock are still doing most of the heavy lifting. A thief who can’t get past the lock screen has a much harder time doing anything with the device at all.
Key takeaways
- Turn on Stolen Device Protection or your phone’s equivalent theft protection settings today, not “at some point”.
- Use a proper passcode and biometric unlock rather than a short PIN.
- Keep your phone in a zipped pocket or bag rather than in your hand near roads, especially on a bike or at a bus stop.
- Note down your IMEI number somewhere other than the phone itself, so you can report it quickly if it’s ever stolen.
- Check whether phone theft cover is already included in your phone insurance before assuming you need to buy more.
What to do if your phone is stolen
Act fast, because the first few minutes matter more than anything you do afterwards. Use Find My iPhone or Find My Device from another device to mark the phone as lost, which locks the screen and lets you leave a contact message for whoever finds it.
Report the theft to the police and get a crime reference number, then contact your network to bar the SIM and blacklist the handset’s IMEI so it can’t be reactivated on another network. This is the same IMEI number that’s worth checking before you buy a used phone, as we cover in our guide to checking a phone’s IMEI.
Finally, change the passwords on any accounts your phone had saved logins for, and keep an eye out for follow up scams. Thieves sometimes use a stolen phone to attempt a SIM swap or trick you into handing over a verification code, which is a separate risk covered in our guide to SIM swap fraud.
If the theft has left you needing a replacement handset or thinking about switching plans anyway, it’s worth a quick check of what else is out there before you commit to the same network by default.
Frequently asked questions about phone theft
- Does insurance cover phone theft?
- Most phone insurance policies cover theft, but check whether yours needs a police crime reference number and whether there’s an excess to pay, which typically runs to a couple of hundred pounds depending on the policy. It’s worth checking your existing cover before you assume you need a new policy.
- Will blocking my IMEI stop the phone being used?
- Blacklisting the IMEI with your network stops the handset connecting to UK mobile networks, though some stolen phones are stripped for parts or sold abroad instead. It’s still worth doing straight away, alongside marking the device as lost through Find My iPhone or Find My Device.
- Is phone theft still rising in 2026?
- No. The latest Metropolitan Police figures show phone theft in London falling, down around 18% over the most recent 12 months, though the earlier Crime Survey data shows how sharply it had risen before that (checked August 2026).
- Does turning on Stolen Device Protection slow me down day to day?
- Barely. It only adds extra checks for high risk actions, such as changing your password or turning off Find My, and mainly when your phone is away from places it recognises as familiar, like home or work.
- Can the police actually get my phone back?
- Sometimes. GPS tracking data has become a genuine tool for police under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which gives officers new powers to enter premises without a warrant when tracking clearly links stolen goods to a specific address (checked August 2026, gov.uk).
