Terrifying moment Aussie actor in London thief tries to steal phone

An Australian woman in London has captured the moment she survived an attempted robbery while on a busy street.

An Australian actor has filmed the terrifying moment a passerby tried to steal from her while walking the streets of London.

Naarah, who moved to the UK last year to study musical theatre, had been at a show when she had her phone in ‘selfie mode’ while filming a few moments of her night while in London.

Suddenly, and without warning, a masked bike rider whips up next to her on the street, and attempts to grab her phone from her hand.

Naarah said it was the small black strap she had attached to her phone that saved her from getting robbed.

Naarah was in London when the incident occurred.

Naarah, who shared the chilling vision to her social media profile on both Instagram and Tik Tok, said she was shocked she managed to catch the brazen moment on the same camera the masked thief wanted to snatch.

“I can’t believe I caught that on camera,” she said in the video, which has been shared on Tik Tok more than 1.5 million times.

“If you’re coming to London, small crime is so common here. Don’t take it for granted, because it literally can happen to you at any point.”

The black strap, which can set you back as little as $30 from some retailers, essentially adds another layer of security when in busy locations while still wanting to use your phone for calls, texts and taking photos or video.

Naarah was in London walking home from a stage show when the incident occurred.

Naarah said it’s a small piece of security she will never leave home without, given she’s not the first to be targeted in the bike-riding theft circle.

“I’ve been telling everyone to get phone strap, it’s worth it,” one person wrote on Naarah’s video.

“Finally I’m glad to see it in action and saved your phone!”

“They’re literally everywhere. Tottenham Court Road is the worst,” another added.

“Where I use to work, colleagues were forever having their phones swiped. Don’t walk around with your phone out, the thieves are everywhere,” another commented.

Earlier this year, a man was sentenced in Manchester after footage emerged of him bike-riding and snatching mobile phones out of three victims’ hands.

David Platt, 33, was sentenced after being caught on CCTV committing the thefts in Manchester city centre.

Naarah was in London when the incident occurred.

The strap Naarah said she will never leave home without

In each offence, he can be seen cycling on his pushbike at speed before grabbing phones from his victims on busy high streets.

The thief targeted people who were using their phones in public, riding his bike past the pedestrians before turning around and coming up behind them to steal their devices.

The BBC released figures to show that a phone is stolen in London every six minutes.

“Phone theft is not a minor crime, it strikes at the heart of how safe people feel in their own communities,” His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Chief Inspector Andy Cooke said last year.

“There needs to be a concerted drive to address this because it directly affects the public’s confidence in the police’s ability to keep them safe.”