back to article Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner: Capital is top target for computer thieves, say police

Computer kit including smartphones, laptops, tablets and desktop themselves, is twice as likely to be stolen in reported thefts in London compared to other regions in the UK. A series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from security and communications firm ViaSat revealed the theft of electronic devices crops up in 34 …

  1. keithpeter Silver badge

    Bad typo in first sentence

    'Tables' assume should read 'tablets' unless very handy street gangs with vans

    1. Thecowking

      Re: Bad typo in first sentence

      Actually they're database theives.

      It's a whole new paradigm in tech theft, they actually delete the data they copy from the compromised system.

  2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Coat

    An alternative viewpoint is...

    That Londoners don't have much else worth stealing. Perhaps because they've blown all their money on fancy must-have gadgets, sky-high mortgages and over-priced beer.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      Re: An alternative viewpoint is...

      whilst us ooop north (outside M25) know that once freed, our pigeons will always come home and the ferrets will give them a nasty nip.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: An alternative viewpoint is...

      " An alternative viewpoint is...That Londoners don't have much else worth stealing."

      And yet another is that London is simply a simmering cauldron of thieves, where a third of the population work in various forms of organised white collar theft (group A, AKA the City), a third work in blue collar and manual crime (group B, the subject of this survey), and the other third (group C) create the framework for crime to prosper, either by writing bad laws to allow group A to prosper, or operating the system to ensure that group B consider the benefits of crime (against groups A & C) worth the risks whilst creating the appearance of a criminal justice process.

      The sooner we build a big wall along the route of the M25 and seal them all in forever, the better.

      1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

        Re: An alternative viewpoint is...

        What if I want to go to Lake Side?

      2. Vic

        Re: An alternative viewpoint is...

        The sooner we build a big wall along the route of the M25 and seal them all in forever, the better.

        Not a wall. A mould...

        Vic.

      3. Triggerfish

        Re: An alternative viewpoint is...

        Seriously there's lots of normal people doing jobs in London who are underpaid and living in shitty areas and getting screwed by the politicians and bankers as any Northern town you want to balance a chip on your shoulder in.

        You need to sort out your prejudices.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    People just don't get it....

    people will happily wave around a big glowing device in their hands.

    Ask them this question

    Would you be happy to withdraw a few hundred pounds from a cash point and walk around with it in your hands in a busy crowded area, pop it on a table whilst you a coffee,pop it in pocket or bag with a little cable with a note saying free cash at the end. The, at night, wave it around whilst pointing a torch at it.

    General answer would be no, I wouldn't be that stupid.

    Guess what, you ARE doing exactly that.

    1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

      Re: People just don't get it....

      It's worse than just that, it's the way many people (mainly women) have open bags with such multi-hundred pound devices lying around on top, along with purse, keys, travel cards and anything else they may need at a moment's notice. For pickpockets (more "pick-bags"?) it's probably like shooting fish in a barrel, one quick brush past and a palm off to an accomplice (who also masks the act from sight of others) and they're done.

  4. Robert E A Harvey

    Lets get this straight

    Are there more tablets to nick in London?

    Or are flats so small that people have to go to public places to use them?

    Or are the streets lined with more thieving scrotes than anywhere else?

    What is the root cause of this statistic?

    1. tony2heads

      Re: Lets get this straight

      Maybe it is related to availability of receivers of stolen goods (fences to you and me)

      - people usually steal stuff for money. If there is no market it isn't interesting.

      People will steal the strangest things if they can sell them

      http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/endangered-cycads-stolen-from-kirstenbosch-1.1730495#.U-jR9nV53UY

    2. WraithCadmus

      Re: Lets get this straight

      More serious suggestion is perhaps as there's more commuting by public transport in the capital people tend to buy nicer devices and have them out more often?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Lets get this straight

        "perhaps as there's more commuting by public transport in the capital people tend to buy nicer devices and have them out more often?"

        Reading the article suggests that business burglary is a major driver, rather than on-street robbery and pick pocketing. I'm sure both of the last two are prevalent, but if you're stealing things as a trade then a raid on an unoccupied business or even school is going to have far better pay off than snatching some bod's phone, running off very fast hoping that you don't run foul of an angry mob of commuters or a passing plod, don't get run over as you leg it, you aren't caught on high def CCTV, and that the phone is both saleable and not IMEI locked within minutes of theft.

        1. Muscleguy

          Re: Lets get this straight

          Your reading comprehension is in dire need of an upgrade. How you can conclude that from the article when it contains absolutely clear statements like this:

          "“Crimes such as burglary, theft from the person and robbery resulted in far more electronic equipment being taken than crimes directed against business such as shoplifting and non-domestic burglaries,” he concluded."

          is completely beyond me. Is English your first language? If it is can I suggest you sue your English teachers at school because they have clearly failed. Add your parents to the list as well.

  5. LucreLout

    It's the gangsta yoot

    Pretty well everyone in London knows why there's a crime epidemic, but nobody is allowed to say it, lest they trigger another riot, or a backlash of soggy tofu from Guardian readers.

  6. Tom 35

    London cops

    Are all at parties or cracking down on bad websites?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: London cops

      ... or investigating tweets that either someone found vaguely offensive, or that made jokes about airports.

  7. ISYS

    No brainer

    I live in the sticks and commute in to London every day.

    In the normal world (the sticks) most people do not walk around with tech on their person other than mobile phones which are generally in the pocket most of the time. Most people drive or walk to where they are going and when they get there they talk to other humans (we call them friends and acquaintances).

    In London, almost everyone is using a tablet or laptop on the tube/bus/train/coffee shop/pub/museum etc.

    I think you could say London is a target rich environment.

  8. Graham Marsden
    Holmes

    Well, yes, because...

    ... London is full of low-life scum who do nothing, make nothing, produce nothing, but just profit by taking something from one person and sell it on to someone else and congratulate themselves on how clever they are being.

    Oh, and as well as the politicians and money men and stock brokers and bankers, there are thieves too.

    1. mark 63 Silver badge

      Re: Well, yes, because...

      puts me in mind of the Mitchell and Webb sketch "Currency speculator meets Grannies job justification interview"

  9. RubberJohnny

    Because generally speaking, Londoners are a bit dopey and more likely to be careless, plus they are very gullible and easy to fool.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can I suggest that you move to the North

    Despite your stereotyping it is not grim. It is far safer, friendlier and more green and pleasant than the god-forsaken shithole that is London.

    1. Vic

      Re: Can I suggest that you move to the North

      It is far safer, friendlier and more green and pleasant than the god-forsaken shithole that is London.

      Talk about damning with faint praise...

      Vic.

    2. LucreLout

      Re: Can I suggest that you move to the North

      "Despite your stereotyping it is not grim. It is far safer, friendlier and more green and pleasant than the god-forsaken shithole that is London."

      For the love of.... will you shut up!!

      The last thing the North needs is a load of effeminate, shandy drinking, toffy nosed, soft southern tossers moving there and spoiling it for everyone!

  11. Muscleguy

    If this survey is truly 'UK' and not just 'England and Wales' then it would be interesting to see the month by month stats for Edinburgh and if there is an uptick in August when large sections of the London Arts community and glitterati head for the various Festivals (there is more than one in Edinburgh at the mo).

    In terms of 'target rich environments' Edinburgh in August must be like the West End of London at any other time.

    I expect detecting a corresponding downturn in London would be futile as August is prime tourist season there too.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    for peace of mind

    Just keep your fondleslab in your trousers (assuming a small no big enough pocket)

  13. ecofeco Silver badge
    Coat

    Big money attracts thieves?

    So the small sharks feed off the big sharks?

    mumble, mumble, yesterdays news, mumble mumble no honor among thieves mumble mumble poetic justice mumble mumble

  14. croc

    Das Kapitol?

    "Capital" refers to money... "Capitol" refers to a nation-state's seat of government. I can understand how it is easy to confuse the two, but don't conflate them.

    1. Vic

      Re: Das Kapitol?

      "Capital" refers to money... "Capitol" refers to a nation-state's seat of government

      "Capital" refer's to a state's seat of government in English[1].

      "Capitol" only appears to be used in Merkania.

      Vic.

      [1] Cookies are not your friend on that site...

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