NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n A campaign that debuted in London this summer is facing backlash, with both residents and visitors<\/a> criticizing officials for failing to tackle crime problems head-on.<\/p>\n The “Mind the Grab” initiative aims to raise awareness of widespread phone theft along the city\u2019s iconic Oxford Street shopping district.<\/p>\n Bold purple chalk signs on the edge of the sidewalks say, “Mind the Grab,” and “Step back from the Kerb! Phone snatching hot spot.”<\/p>\n URGENT ADVISORY FOR SAFARI DESTINATION WARNS OF ‘TERRORIST VIOLENCE’ AND RISK OF ‘UNREST’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Westminster Council and Metropolitan Police Service have partnered with Currys, the U.K.\u2019s largest tech retailer, to remind pedestrians of thefts on mopeds or e-bikes along busy streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since it launched, the campaign has sparked an active response online, with locals and tourists taking to social media to voice strong opinions.<\/p>\n Social media users have been blasting London’s “Mind the Grab” initiative.<\/span> (Rasid Necati Aslim\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One Instagram user posted a video detailing the campaign and wrote, “London\u2019s telling us to hide our phones<\/a> instead of stopping the thieves. Who should really be held accountable?”<\/p>\n In the “r\/ukpolitics” forum on Reddit, one user said, “We are normalizing theft.”<\/p>\n Said another, “Slowly drifting toward the ubiquitous third-world \u2018pickpockets operate in this area\u2019 \u2013 patronizing absolution of state responsibility where it matters, coupled with a warm embrace where unwanted.”<\/p>\n A different Redditor said, “It\u2019s basically London authorities refusing to actually tackle it and trying to put the blame on people who use their phone in the center of London.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “I went to Paris in 2022 [and] 2023, and I noticed the recording \u2018beware of pickpockets\u2019 as soon as I got on the train,” wrote another user.<\/p>\n An X user responded to a post captioned, “What\u2019s preventing you from visiting London?” by answering with the comment, “The stabbings and \u2018Mind the grab.\u2019”<\/p>\n Bold purple chalk signs on the edge of the sidewalks read, “Mind the Grab” and “Step back from the Kerb! Phone snatching hot spot.”<\/span> (Richard Baker \/ In Pictures via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “Instead of catching the career criminals behind phone thefts, authorities blamed victims with a \u2018Mind the Grab\u2019 purple line down Oxford St.,” said another X post.<\/p>\n Last month, the Metropolitan Police busted an international gang suspected of smuggling nearly 40,000 cell phones from the U.K. to China, The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n It is believed that more than half of the phones were taken in London.<\/p>\n “London\u2019s telling us to hide our phones instead of stopping the thieves,” said one person on social media.\u00a0<\/span> (Leon Neal\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Over 115,000 mobile phones were stolen across London in 2023, according to Metropolitan Police data.<\/p>\n TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Natasha Evans, police lead superintendent in Westminster, said in an August press release that “officers are relentlessly pursuing criminal gangs intent on committing robbery and phone theft.”<\/p>\n “Officers are relentlessly pursuing criminal gangs.”<\/p>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n She added, “We have increased patrols in hot spot areas to identify and deter perpetrators \u2014 and robbery has [been] reduced by 20% in the West End since April.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n London remains a popular tourist attraction, drawing some 21 million visitors in recent years, with around 3.6 million “overnight visits” coming from North America, according to the\u00a0U.K.’s Office for National Statistics<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"man](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1200\/675\/london-cell-phone-stealing-fox-news.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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