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A City worker was warned “You’re going to be destroyed” and sent a video of a man holding a loaded gun after he managed to track down his stolen iPhone to China.
Christopher Bramah-Calvert received the shocking messages after his phone was snatched from his hands by an e-bike rider outside a gym in High Holborn in central London.
The 38-year-old tracked his phone on the Find My app across two locations in London before it suddenly appeared in Shenzhen, in southern China, a month after the theft.
The street it was located in, Huafa South Road, is where hundreds of stolen phones from the UK have been turning up, with criminal gangs believed to be sending the devices en masse to the city for resale or parts.
It’s also easier to unlock and sell stolen iPhones in Shenzhen, which has the largest electronics market in the world, police chiefs have told The Independent – but the criminals require the devices to be disconnected from the victims’ Apple accounts.
Mr Bramah-Calvert, whose phone was an iPhone 13, said: “I’d been following it for days and then was surprised to see it suddenly in China, and then I started getting messages to my husband’s phone.
“At first they were from someone claiming to have bought it and asking I disconnect it – but then it turned threatening, and I was then sent a video of a man holding a gun. At first, I was completely taken aback by it.”
The PR worker then went online and discovered that other phone-snatch victims had also tracked their phones to the same location in the Chinese city, and had been sent similar messages, although not accompanied by the video of an armed man.
One of the messages, seen by The Independent, said “I know who you are and where you live and ur whole family will get slaughtered”.
Mr Bramah-Calvert ignored the demands on advice from police and his insurance company, before the phone disappeared from the tracking app.
He said: “The threats and language were obviously all part of the tactics to get me to release the device, and the video would have been very intimidating for some people. I was shocked by the language.
“I knew nothing would come of it, but if it was my parents, they could have dealt with it in a different way.”
A search online shows that Mr Bramah-Calvert’s story is not rare.
Apple’s own discussion boards and Reddit forums feature many other victims whose stolen phones have ended up in Shenzhen, some saying they have been asked for Apple ID and screen lock passwords.
The tight security of iPhones means that it is difficult for a criminal who has stolen one to get into or use the device without its passcode or the owner’s Apple account password, unless it is remotely removed from that account for someone else to use, which also requires a login.
That means the phones are largely useless to any thief who does not have the required security information – and attackers can resort to violent or threatening messages in an attempt to obtain it.
The number of mobile phone thefts hit a record high in 2023, with almost 85,000 across England and Wales, according to data obtained by The Times.
Inspector Dan Green, from the City of London Police proactive crime team, urged people not to cooperate with the criminals’ demands, and to pass on tracking information on devices to police forces as soon it becomes available.
He said: “I can see why [victims] go ‘Yes, fine take it,’ but that’s what they are preying on – they are making these messages and violent demands in the hope that people will just give in and buckle.”
The theft of Mr Bramah-Calvert’s phone was reported to the Metropolitan Police, but Insp Green said his force has also dealt with instances of stolen devices ending up in China.
His team uncovered an operation last year in which hundreds of phones were taken during crimes, including muggings, knife-point robberies and distraction burglaries, with some of the devices then being sent to Shenzhen.
The force has taken a proactive approach to the issue after mobile phone thefts peaked at 143 cases in July 2022 – but Insp Green called on victims to report all the tracking information, adding that there is “not a lot” the police can do once the phones reach China.
He said: “We will normally try and have a look, but we will try and manage their expectations as well, and say, ‘Look, it’s not as easy as turning up, smashing a door down and getting your phone. There’s a lot more to it than that.’
“But without us getting that information, we’re never going to know.”
Insp Green said it isn’t known how the phones are sent to China, but that “many” phones can be packaged up and posted abroad.
While a stolen phone could be “too hot to handle” in the UK, he said, in China, it was unlikely to be flagged up anywhere when reused legitimately, adding: “I’d suggest [they are] more valuable out there, where they can either be recycled or dismantled.”
The Met Police said Mr Bramah-Calvert’s phone theft was investigated but the case was closed “pending further new investigative opportunities”.
