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Heads Up - Phone Thief In Sheffield

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I think it is obvious that Joe public would not get access.

 If the OP can establish that cams are in place, it may just prompt the police to pay a visit to Costa.

I acknowledge that it won't be a priority for the police. Many crimes are not, and a crime ref number is often as good as it gets.

I was looking deeper than the 'superficial crime'. If the perpetrator's mug has been caught on cam, what else could the police dig up when they rummage through his gaff?

You know how it is when police stop a vehicle for a minor traffic violation. Then they dig. No insurance, not taxed, disqualified driver?

If the 'Costa thief' is a drug user, maybe his own phone would lead to bigger fish such as drug dealers. Plus a load of stolen items?
 

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I think you are vastly overestimating the amount of time the police would give to what is essence a petty theft.

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15 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

I think you are vastly overestimating the amount of time the police would give to what is essence a petty theft.

As it is very unlikely that this is a one off then if it can be established that there is CCTV then they may be prepared to investigate  (quick easy and lo and behold looks good on their crimes solved as offender cops for numerous thefts)

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to update, apparently this was not a one off. On that day a number of other identical thefts happened in (slightly) posh places. The police have been really proactive on this, which I didn't expect

 

They reviewed quite a bit of city centre CCTV, the chap made sure to have anonymous clothing and mask. Nothing to see, this chap knew what they were doing

 

The shops in Sheffield where the phones might be sold have also been great, but nothing came of that. Suspect the stolen phones have gone overseas

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Thank you Skink for updating us.

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2 hours ago, Skink said:

to update, apparently this was not a one off. On that day a number of other identical thefts happened in (slightly) posh places. The police have been really proactive on this, which I didn't expect

 

They reviewed quite a bit of city centre CCTV, the chap made sure to have anonymous clothing and mask. Nothing to see, this chap knew what they were doing

 

The shops in Sheffield where the phones might be sold have also been great, but nothing came of that. Suspect the stolen phones have gone overseas

It'll have gone on the blackmarket in countries that don't subscribe to the GSMA database. 

Altough with some technical knowledge and the right (inexpensive) equipment an IMEI can be changed. All that's needed is the IMEI from an unblocked device, preferably one that's broken and can't be fixed so it's never going to be switched on. 

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On 05/06/2021 at 20:20, RollingJ said:

Which is why I never leave anything of value on the table AND keep bags &c under the table. If things are not in sight, the thieving scrotes can't get anywhere near them.

My friend had her purse and phone stolen from her zipped bag, which was under their table.  Guy had been sat nearby and got up to leave, dropping small change.  Some rolled under her table, and whilst she was distracted helping him pick coins up, he nicked her stuff. 😒

 

My bag is always on my knee now. 

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