Stolen mobile phones could soon be permanently disabled in a bid to combat the soaring levels of theft across the UK – but a security expert fears it may not be enough to stop the problem of fraud.
Labour MP Dawn Butler is seeking an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which would require mobile phone companies to block stolen phones within 48 hours of a police report and pay financial penalties if they fail to do so. In theory, this would discourage people from swiping them as they would lose resale value.
Ms Butler, who has recently announced she will stand for London mayor if Sadiq Khan stands down, said: “Tech giants have a clear responsibility here: the tools already exist to disable stolen devices, and it’s time to use them.”
In Westminster alone last year, nearly 35,000 phones were reported stolen. A large number of these are then used to access bank accounts and other data. According to Action Fraud, the money is then transferred or used to make purchases.
Between December 2024 and February 2025, £641,208 in phone theft fraud was reported to the national fraud reporting centre.
Tech retailer Currys found that 77 per cent of British people view “phone snatching” as a significant problem.
Among the victims is James O’Sullivan, who had £21,000 drained from his bank account in 2023. That same year, he set up Nuke From Orbit, a smartphone security company that allows people to block access to services and accounts after their phones have been stolen.
When it comes to defrauding a phone, he said there are “different flavours of the same attack”.
In Mr O’Sullivan’s case, somebody watched him enter his PIN into his phone, stole it, and accessed his accounts. Other times, someone will wait for the phone to be unlocked and grab the phone from their hands. He said copies of passports or driving licences were also valuable and could be used to perform ID theft.
If, as per Ms Butler’s amendment, the manufacturers had 48 hours to disable it, there would still be enough time to access the accounts and data on the phone, making stealing it still worthwhile.
He told The Independent: “MPs are asking for a sensible solution – to make it that a stolen phone can’t be used against you. The problem is that they’re asking the handset manufacturers to do it… but the reality is, they can’t, because they are no more able to connect to an offline device than anybody else.”
Ms Butler said: “My amendment won’t replace personal banking security measures, it’s about adding a strong extra layer of protection.
“Once phones are guaranteed to be blocked, their resale value will reduce. I am convinced that certainty will make phone theft less appealing.”
Ms Butler said the Metropolitan Police and Science and Technology Select Committee agree that phone companies can and should do more.
Speaking to parliament, Ms Butler said: “The phone manufacturers are not that keen, I don’t believe, to stop this, because it’s part of their business model – when you get your mobile phone stolen, you then go and buy another mobile phone.”
When asked if this was true, and whether it supported the amendment, a Google spokesperson told The Independent: “For years Android has invested in advanced theft protection features. We’ve built and evolved these features by listening to victims and partnering closely with law enforcement and industry.”
Former Home Office minister and Tory MP Kit Malthouse told Google and Apple executives in June: “It feels to a lot of people like you’re dragging your feet … and actually sitting behind this is a very strong commercial incentive,” according to The Times.
But Apple, which makes around 80 per cent of the stolen phones, claims it is taking necessary action.
A spokesperson told The Independent: “We have been working on this issue from a hardware, software, and customer support standpoint for more than the last decade. We have made and continue to make significant investments to create industry-leading tools and features that put control in the hands of our users in the event of theft.”
A Samsung spokesperson added: “We are in constant collaboration with our partners across the industry to look at new and existing solutions to help combat this complex issue and ultimately help improve the safety of our customers, which is our primary concern.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
