One of the favourite crimes of foreign immigrant gangs is the Stealing of Mobile Phones.
It's very easy money. They ride around on their silent e-bikes wearing masks, and target those who wear earphones whilst looking into their phones. If you wave a £1,000 phone in front of you, whilst being totally unaware of what's going on around you, someone will come along and take it. It's as easy and simple as that.
Most stolen phones now end-up abroad. About 33% of them go to Algeria, 20% to China, and 7% to Hong Kong. A recent raid on an apartment in Kowloon HK revealed over a Million stolen phones.
The UK based gangs, mostly Afghans and Bulgarians, use young Afro-Caribbean hoodlums to steal the phones, then they export in bulk and receive anything from £200 to £400 per stolen phone. A small amount of work is done to them by the buyers, and they are re-sold, often above the original retail price. They make a fortune.
So, my advice to all Gen Z'ers (and others) is NOT to listen to Taylor Swift records as you wander around aimlessly, and NOT to hold your phone out in front of you, as if to say "Here, take this".
If you ignore this good advice, your phone will probably be stolen. And don't say you weren't warned!
Such is today's UK.
Why do you waste your time on such irrelevancies? At your age, well even at twenty, it's far more becoming, useful and edifying to ponder on real issues. Say, the finality of life.
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Thousands of people are traumatised every day because of these scumbags. If you think that's 'irrelevant', then OK.
DeleteI don't think it ok. However, where there are humans there will be thieves. It's a given. And if people are willing "victims" - in as much as they offer opportunity - they only have themselves to blame.
DeleteWhat I meant is that, as the sand runs thinner towards the end, we need to choose our "battles", expend energy on what is worthwhile. I have this romantic notion of the "wise old man/woman", not someone who scours msn to join the armchair outraged.
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I always think of the world my six grandsons will inherit. It looks pretty grim, and very little is being done to make it better.
Delete"where there are humans there will be thieves"
DeleteHmmm.... Some of us are (just) old enough to remember a time in England when is was normal in many places to leave doors unlocked, in every expectation that our homes would not be violated. And when the shame of being caught in any kind of criminal act, theft or any other, was a powerful incentive for children and elders to behave in a responsible manner. Alas, such times are long past, and the current indifference of our government and police is an open invitation to all kinds of low level criminality - shoplifting, phone theft, etc.
If you want to go all biblical, Will: Cain slayed Abel.
DeleteOf course, doors were left unlocked. In olden times, in villages - where everyone knew everyone. And then towns and cities emerged. Stranger danger. And the locksmiths' business booming.
Trust is one thing; being plain stupid/negligent another.
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In France we left our doors open for over 50 years, then a couple of years ago some scumbag broke in and stole things. We now have serious security systems going in, in a week's time. It's the same all over!
DeleteJesus black then white
DeleteNot irrelevant at all Cro. It is a major issue here in our capital lead by our utterly useless Mayor who has seemingly been rewarded for his utter failures week in week out.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree that walking around with earphones is hardly going to make you aware of your surroundings.
I think someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning...again!
'AGAIN' is the right word. That person will always defend the indefensible, and side with the baddies. I'm used to it, and attempt to correct. Until now nothing has worked!
DeleteHordes of smartphone junkies, swarming along the pavements, noses glued to their screens, heedless of any other pedestrians. The bane of modern life. I am so very tired of being expected to move out of their way all the time. I just want to scream "why don't you look where you're going?"!!!
ReplyDeleteI encounter them 'Jay Walking' as well. They seem to think they have priority at all times.
DeleteThere is no “jay walking” in the UK. Unlike many States it is assumed people have enough intelligence to cross the road.
DeleteYou should have seen some schoolgirls that I encountered yesterday. And they started shouting me as well, for letting them cross. Unbelievable.
DeleteI agree with you Cro. What kind of a world will my grandchildren inherit ? This weekend we are going for Sunday carvery at a lovely old inn for my grandson's 15th birthday. When I think , he's almost grown up now and will soon be out in the wider world.
ReplyDeleteStill, when I think my oldest son is here at the moment, visiting from Canada and he has done very well. I suppose it depends on the person and how they handle people and situations.
ReplyDeleteI think it takes a strong person these days not to follow the crowd. They are like clones all wandering around doing exactly the same things. Whatever happened to individuality?
DeleteSurely all smartphone owners have heard about the street thefts so they should take obvious precautions. I would also advise the young not to go about with earpieces in. You need to be alert, aware of what is going on around you, behind you and up in the air.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, still about 1,000 are stolen every day. I suppose they're too busy listening to the latest Swift records to hear the advice!
DeleteI regularly see people crossing busy parking lots with their eyes glued to their phones and paying zero attention to their surroundings. If all that happens is that they have something stolen, they'll have gotten off lucky. I saw two people almost get hit by cars the other day and neither of them even noticed!
ReplyDeleteEverywhere I go I see almost everyone doing the same. They don't look at their surroundings, and they don't hear any of the sounds around them. They miss so much!
DeleteAs far as I know, stealing a phone from a person while obliviously walking down the street has not reached the US (yet).
ReplyDeleteWhy so many people choose to become one with their phone seems to say: leave me alone and do not interfere. Isolation and Covid seemed to encourage this, and it has not gone away.
Everybody is walking in their own little orb!
The saddest is seeing young 'couples' walking together and only looking at their phones; not at each other. It wasn't like that when I was young; thank goodness.
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