OiYOiStudent guide
Phone snatched? The first ten minutes
The first ten minutes count most: lock it, then report it. The faster you lock it, the smaller the window for anyone to get into your accounts.
- How long
- Lock it and report it lost in the first ten minutes; report it to the police and get a reference number the same day
- What you need
- Turn on Find My / Find Hub in advance and note down your IMEI (dial *#06# to see it)
- What you get
- Your phone is locked remotely, and you have a crime reference number for insurance claims and a replacement SIM
Four steps
- Borrow a phone from someone nearby straight away, sign in to Find My (Apple) or Find Hub (Android), and mark the device as lost and lock it. This comes before anything else.
- Change your key passwords: email first, then your banking apps and your Apple/Google account. Your email is the key to everything else.
- Report it: if it's happening now or someone's in danger, call 999; if it's over and you're safe, call 101 or report online on the police website. As gov.uk puts it, 999 is for a crime in progress or someone in immediate danger, and 101 is for non-emergencies. Both numbers are free.
- Get a crime reference number and write it down: you'll need it for insurance claims, a replacement SIM from your network and evidence for your uni if you need time off.
Where people slip up
- Chasing the thief. Phones can be replaced. You can't.
- Posting about it before locking the phone. Wrong order. In the first ten minutes, do three things only: lock it, change your passwords, report it.
- Never noting your IMEI. Dial *#06# now and save the IMEI somewhere else (email it to yourself). The police and your insurer will both ask for it.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Phone out at the kerb? You're a snatcher's top targetJust a habit – costs nothing
The short version
Phone snatching by thieves on mopeds and bikes in London isn't an urban myth. They go for people at the edge of the pavement, head down in their phone, mostly in central London and outside Tube stations. Making yourself hard to rob is a hundred times easier than getting your phone back afterwards.
Three habits
- When you're waiting for a bus or a mate, stand back against a wall or away from the road, with your phone in your pocket. Right on the kerb, phone held out, is a textbook target.
- Don't whip your phone out the second you leave a Tube station. Station exits are ambush spots: they grab it and vanish into the crowds or round the junction. Get clear of the exit and away from the kerb before you check the map.
- At night, listen to directions through your headphones instead of holding your phone out. If you really need to look, stop, turn side-on and keep your back to the traffic.
If it still happens
See "Phone snatched? Your first ten minutes": borrow a phone and lock yours first, then call 101 to report it and get a reference number (if it's happening right now or someone could get hurt, go straight to 999 – that's gov.uk's advice, and both numbers are free).
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Official pages
Checked against official pages on 4 Sep 2026.
Not official advice. Rules change, so always check the official page.