Phone snatcher drained £21k from commuter’s banking apps after mobile was stolen from his hands on London underground
A London commuter had £21,000 stolen from his banking apps after thieves snatched his mobile phone through closing Tube doors.
Niall McNamee, 30, was scrolling on his phone when a thief grabbed it from the platform just as the train doors shut.
Two days later, the musician and actor discovered his bank accounts had been completely emptied, despite having face ID and password protection.
“It used to be people stole a phone so they could sell on a phone,” he told the BBC. “Now it seems they are stealing phones so they can get in to all of your data and take money.”
The thief managed to take out a £7,000 loan in McNamee’s name from HSBC, transferring the cash to his Monzo account before draining it completely. Transactions showed the criminal went on a “spending spree” in an Apple store, leaving McNamee in shock.
“It’s one of those moments where you just in one second feel a bucket of sweat come out of your head and you go red,” he said.
While Monzo has reimbursed around £14,000 of the stolen money, HSBC has yet to write off the fraudulent loan.
“HSBC don’t seem to understand that I don’t have £7,000 to give them back,” McNamee said, adding that the bank hasn’t explained how the loan was approved.
The police investigation was closed after a month due to “no CCTV evidence”. Reports of theft and robberies on trains and stations across Britain have shot up 58 per cent from 2018 to 2023, according to British Transport Police data.
Of the 23,683 thefts and robberies recorded in 2023, a staggering 98 per cent had not resulted in a conviction or what police term a “positive outcome”.
London makes up the majority of train-related thefts, with other hotspots including Birmingham, Kent, Essex and Manchester. Superintendent John Loveless warned that December typically sees the highest number of thefts and robbery reports.
“The nights drawing in earlier, it gives people an opportunity…for offending,” he said, explaining how criminals operate under the “cover of darkness” during autumn and winter months.
British Transport Police has identified three main tactics used by “gadget-grabbers” on the transport network. These include “The Plucker” who steals phones from sleeping passengers, “The Grabber” who takes devices left on seats or tables, and “The Snatcher” who grabs phones through closing train doors.
The force advises passengers to remain vigilant and keep phones out of sight when not in use.
Other safety tips include using zip pockets instead of back pockets, registering devices at immobilise.com, and ensuring stolen device protection is enabled.
Labour MP for Stratford & Bow Uma Kumaran said: “Your whole life is in your phone nowadays…you could class it as a low level, petty crime, but to the person it happens to…you feel like suddenly your whole life is taken off you.”