Phone muggers on e-bikes are increasingly targeting one of London’s most affluent areas – as MailOnline plots out the hotspot streets where they have struck several times in recent months. 

The capital is in the grip of a phone-snatching frenzy that has seen the internet dominated by clips of masked thugs dressed head-to-toe in black swooping on unsuspecting victims in Mayfair, east of Hyde Park. 

In recent months we have reported on thefts in Park Lane, Audley Street, Oxford Street and Bond Street – the latter seeing a victim have his phone stolen as he inadvertently filmed the men who swiped his device.

The techniques used are almost always the same. Thugs dressed all in black, wearing masks or balaclavas, are using illegally modified electric bicycles to creep up on their victims before leaning in and helping themselves to their handsets.

Bikes are typically throttle-powered with no need to pedal, equipped with high-power motors capable of propelling thieves at 30mph as well as chunky off-road tires ideal for mounting pavements and escaping over rough terrain.

Some thugs use mopeds, with a pillion-riding partner acting as phone-snatcher – but around the quiet streets of Mayfair, it’s the silent snatchers that are prevalent.

The crooks’ disguises and speed make them nigh-on untraceable to the point police chiefs have called on phone makers to do more to make the devices harder to unlock and sold on the black market.

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But videos published on MailOnline over the summer only showcase the scale of the problem – including a builder who was targeted by a thief, all in black, who casually leans in to steal the handset before speeding off in seconds.

It happened a stone’s throw from the £1,345-a-night Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane – suggesting the criminals are deliberately hanging around the areas immortalised on the British Monopoly board as the most expensive in London.

MailOnline’s map shows the routes young crooks could be taking on a regular basis around Mayfair, Hyde Park and Oxford Street.

In July, an incident within the Hyde Park hotspot was captured on CCTV footage when an e-bike riding crook in all black crept up behind an unsuspecting man and swiped his phone. 

The hi-vis worker was walking through Mayfair opposite Hyde Park with a colleague when the brazen thief mounted the kerb and made off with his possession.

And an incident reported in September saw a brazen phone snatcher steal a woman’s mobile in the middle of the day on Oxford Street before calmly taking off. 

Footage filmed by an internet streamer shows the woman standing close to an Oxford Circus Underground exit on her way to work looking at her phone.

Behind her a man on an e-bike silently approaches her and grabs her phone out of her hand before escaping.

Visibly shocked, the woman jumps slightly and then stands rooted to the spot in disbelief. 

A man had his phone stolen at the same spot on July 29, also by a man in all black riding the same style of bike – which resembles a dirt bike. 

Figures published in September show snatch thefts – grabs of phones and handbags –  have risen by 150 per cent in the last year. Of the 78,000 reported in England and Wales in the last year, almost three quarters happened in London.

Phone thefts of all kinds have exploded in the capital. Met Police data shows the number of reported mobile phone thefts almost doubled from 48,209 in 2018 to 94,341 in 2023. 

Soberingly, the number of people charged in connection with phone thefts in the same year is lower despite the huge rise in calls to the police.

Met Police Commander Owain Richards described the thefts as ‘invasive’ and sometimes ‘violent’, adding that the regular hotspot areas include Westminster, Lambeth and Newham. 

And Dep Supt Saj Hussain, the Metropolitan police’s lead officer for phone theft, told the Guardian the majority of victims are school-age children.

For those thinking of fighting back, he advises against it. Met figures suggest a quarter of snatch thefts involve a knife.

Horrifying recent footage of a stand-off in Tottenham Court Road shows a man yelling at a masked e-bike rider in the middle of the road clutching a huge, serrated combat-style blade.

DS Hussain is not surprised that London has become a hotspot for the so-called ‘i-jackers’. 

‘It’s the largest metropolis, it’s the area that most people come to visit both nationally and internationally. It’s got a lot of footfall, especially tourists,’ he said.

‘We have some of the best transport networks in the world in London. The Elizabeth line has been wonderful for me to commute, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity for those that have been committing thefts elsewhere to come into London, which is a more lucrative market. 

‘It’s the opportunists’ capital of the nation. You can’t change that.’

The phones are typically swiped by thugs to pawn off or send abroad, as recounted by a number of people on TikTok who share images of the Find My iPhone app showing their Apple devices travelling to China or other far-flung lands.

Emma Hall, 44, whose phone was pinched in Leyton High Street in north London, told MailOnline earlier this year how her phone found itself in Shenzhen – the Asian country’s answer to Silicon Valley, such is its reputation for harbouring electronics businesses.

She recalled: ‘I had my phone in my jacket pocket and as I crossed the road I took my phone out, literally just to text my husband to say “get me a Prosecco, I’m on route”.

‘As soon as I did three lads on bikes went right past me on the pavement and one grabbed my phone.

‘The scary thing is they come so close and fast next to you. It was just so quick and I went over to the bar all shook up.’

Thieves have even been caught with bagfuls of phones swiped in a single spree, with the devices wrapped in tinfoil in a bid to deflect their signals and prevent them from being tracked by their owners.

Ministers have vowed to do more to tackle the spate of phone thefts by urging manufacturers to make devices harder to unlock, ‘designing out’ the ability for used handsets to be sold on.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said last month of the latest figures: ‘Phone companies must ensure that any stolen phones can be quickly, easily and permanently disabled, rather than re-registered for sale on the second-hand market, and we will be meeting them soon to discuss what further action is required to make that happen.

‘If we work together, government, tech companies and law enforcement can break the business model of the phone thieves and moped gangs who rely on this trade.’

But devices can be valuable even if they can’t be unlocked: stripped down for the fractions of grams of rare metals inside that can then be sold on to unscrupulous traders.

IT and cyber-security expert Thomas Balogun told MailOnline there are pockets of gangs in the UK who will sell stolen phones to cyber criminals overseas.

‘There’s a strong demand for phone parts in China because of the large population. There’s also less stringent regulations around individual parts,’ he said.

‘Eighty-percent of the time it’s for the components in the phone, to refurbish someone else’s phone or to remake it into something else’.

The advice, as with all valuables, is the same as ever: be vigilant, keep phones out of sight, and make sure devices are locked down with a PIN code or facial and fingerprint recognition enabled to protect your data should the worst happen.

Police are trying to fight back – and say the best advice is to contact the police as quickly as possible after the theft has occurred as it maximises the chances of the criminals being brought to justice.

Last month 20-year-old crook Amari Scott jailed for four years after police tracked  him to a shop in Croydon, south London hours after he had stolen two mobile phones with the help of two teenage accomplices.

Officers tracked him using one of the stolen phones’ location services.

Commenting on the phone theft crisis today, the Met said: ‘We understand the impact that mobile phone theft can have on victims – it’s an invasive and sometimes violent crime – and we’re committed to protecting Londoners and tackling this issue as we make the capital safer.

‘Met officers are targeting resources to hotspot areas, such as Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with increased patrols and plain clothes officers which deter criminals and make officers more visibly available to members of the community.

‘We continue to use data and technology to build intelligence and track stolen items to target offenders. 

‘We are also working with phone firms to “design out” the ability for phones to be reused and sold on as we seek to dismantle the criminal market that fuels robbery and theft.

‘We encourage people to report as soon as they can whenever they have been a victim of mobile phone theft, so officers can investigate swiftly.’

Nearly 52,000 devices were stolen in the capital last year as criminals on mopeds and e-bikes used violence and distraction techniques to target victims.  

The worst-hit borough in 2023 was the City of Westminster, where tourists flock for theatre shows and high-end shopping, with 18,863 reported incidents in the year to December – up 47 per cent from 12,836 in the previous 12 months.

Camden was the second worst affected, with 4,806 incidents, followed by Southwark (4,376), Hackney (2,761), Newham (2,585), Lambeth (2,394) and Islington (2,117).