iPhone theft victim receives death threats, gunshot video after stolen device traced to China

A city employee was warned: ‘You will be destroyed’ and sent a video of a man holding a loaded gun after he managed to track down his stolen iPhone and send it to China.

Christopher Bramah-Calvert received shocking news after a man riding an electric bike snatched his phone from his hands outside a gym in High Holborn, central London.

The 38-year-old tracked his phone using the Find My app at two locations in London until it suddenly reappeared in Shenzhen, southern China, a month after it was stolen.

The street it was on, Huafa South Road, is where hundreds of stolen phones have been found from the UK, with criminal gangs believed to be sending the devices into the city en masse for resale or parts.

Police chiefs said it was easier to unlock and sell stolen iPhones in Shenzhen, home to the world’s largest electronics market. Independent – however, criminals require that devices be disconnected from the victims’ Apple accounts.

Mr Bramah-Calvert, whose phone was an iPhone 13, said: “I followed it for a few days until I was surprised to see it suddenly in China and then I started getting messages on my husband’s phone.

“At first they were from someone who said they had bought it and asked me to disconnect it – but then it became threatening and then I got a recording of a man holding a gun. At first I was completely taken aback by it.”

The PR officer then checked online to see if other victims of phone theft had also had their phones traced to the same location in the Chinese city. They had also received similar messages, although they did not come with a video of the gunman.

One of the messages he saw Independenthe said, “I know who you are and where you live. Your entire family will be murdered.”

Mr Bramah-Calvert ignored requests from police and his insurance company for a consultation until the phone eventually disappeared from the tracking app.

He said: “The threats and language were obviously part of the tactics to get me to release the device and the film would have been very intimidating for some people. I was shocked by the language.

“I knew it wouldn’t work out, but if they were my parents, they might have handled it differently.”

A search of the web shows that Mr. Bramah-Calvert’s story is not an isolated one.

There are many other victims on Apple’s discussion forums and Reddit who have had their phones stolen in Shenzhen, some of whom say they were asked to provide their Apple ID password and screen lock.

The robust security of iPhones makes it difficult for a criminal who steals a phone to access or use the device without the passcode or password of the owner’s Apple account, unless the device is remotely removed from that account and shared with another person, which also requires logging in.

This means these phones are largely useless to any thief who does not have the required security information, and attackers can resort to sending violent or threatening messages in an attempt to obtain it.

Mobile phone thefts hit a record high in 2023, with almost 85,000 thefts across England and Wales, according to figures obtained by Times.

Detective Inspector Dan Green, from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Prevention Team, urged people not to comply with criminals’ demands and to provide police with details of tracking devices as soon as they become available.

He said: “I understand why (victims) would say, ‘Yeah, fine, take it,’ but that’s what they’re preying on – sending these messages and making these aggressive demands in the hope that people will just give up and back down.”

The theft of Mr Bramah-Calvert’s phone was reported to the Metropolitan Police, but Inspector Green said his officers had also dealt with cases where stolen devices had ended up in China.

His team uncovered an operation in which hundreds of phones were stolen last year in crimes including muggings, stabbings and break-ins to distract attention, with some of the devices then sent to Shenzhen.

Police have taken a proactive approach to the problem after mobile phone thefts peaked in July 2022 with 143 cases – but Detective Inspector Green urged victims to report all tracking information, adding there was “little” police could do once the phones reached China.

He said: “We usually try to check that, but we also try to manage their expectations and say, ‘Listen, it’s not as simple as coming in and kicking down the door and taking out the phone. It’s a lot more than that.’

“But if we don’t get this information, we’ll never know.”

Inspector Green said it was not known how the phones were being sent to China but “many” of the phones could be packaged and sent overseas.

While in the UK a stolen phone might be “too hot to touch”, in China it is unlikely to be reported anywhere if legally reused, he said, adding: “I would suggest (they are) more valuable where they can be recycled or dismantled.”

The Metropolitan Police said the theft of Mr Bramah-Calvert’s phone had been investigated but the case had been closed “pending further fresh enquiries”.