Uma Kumaran, Labour MP for Stratford and Bow, told the BBC her constituency had a problem with phone thefts and robberies.
“I have had my own phone stolen from me,” she said. “It can happen in seconds. I had my phone in my hand one minute, put it in my pocket and within 30 seconds someone’s brushed past me and taken it.
“Your whole life is in your phone nowadays. You could class it as a low-level, petty crime, but to the person it happens to… you feel like suddenly your whole life is taken off you.”
The BBC filmed with a police task force aimed at catching phone snatchers and witnessed several arrests. One suspect had an expensive phone wrapped in tinfoil in an attempt to block the device’s signal and avoid it being traced.
A month after Niall reported his phone theft British Transport Police said the investigation had ended because of “no CCTV evidence”.
In a statement, British Transport Police said it had received a report of the theft.
“Officers investigated, however after exhausting all available lines of enquiry the case has been closed pending new information.”
Niall said Monzo had reimbursed £14,000 of the stolen money. He told the BBC the £7,000 fraudulent loan had yet to be written off by HSBC.
“HSBC don’t seem to understand that I don’t have £7,000 to give them back. They’ve still not been able to explain how a loan was taken out in my name. They have not been helpful at all.”
A spokesperson for HSBC said: “We’re sorry that Mr McNamee was a victim of fraud after his phone was stolen and appreciate how stressful this situation will have been for him.”
The bank said it had been in touch with Niall to resolve the issue.
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