People in the UK: have you been the victim of phone theft recently?

Beware of Phone Snatchers warning by Metropolitan Police stencilled on a London pavement. Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

According to data compiled by an insurance firm, nearly two in every five mobile phones stolen in Europe are taken in the UK. Claims made to the American insurance company SquareTrade showed 39% of all phone thefts across the company’s 12 European markets were in Britain.

The data revealed that phone theft claims in the UK had increased by 425% since June 2021 and 42% of phone thefts in the UK occurred in London.