You earn HOW MUCH? Bank of Dave explains the phone scam epidemic in a shocking gang interview

The secrets of the phone thieves terrorizing the streets of Britain have been revealed in a sensational interview between a gang leader and Dave Fishwick, the businessman who inspired the hit film Bank of Dave and columnist This is Money.

In the interview, which will air on ITV’s Good Morning Britain from 6am this morning (June 25), Dave addresses the anonymous criminal who sends teams of young people onto the streets every day to snatch phones.

The gang members each earn up to £2,500 a day, he reveals, while the leader can rake in £15,000 to £20,000.

However, the criminal is not interested in the devices themselves. The name of the game is to gain access to the victims’ banking apps and steal as much of their money as possible before the accounts are blocked or frozen.

It’s part of the ‘shoulder surfing’ crime epidemic sweeping the country – known as such because the criminals approach their unsuspecting victims from behind, hoping to get their hands on their device while it’s unlocked, or see how they use their phone and banking app passwords. .

The interview with Fishwick shows how much money the gangs make. The gang’s leader, Rich (whose name has been changed and his identity concealed), claims that one of his employees can steal as much as £20,000 in cash a day.

How does the phone theft operation work?

The gang leader describes how he has about eight young people in front of him, who usually go out in teams of two.

Often they are on a moped or e-scooter, in which case they will snatch the phones from the hands of victims on the side of the road. They hope the phones are unlocked, meaning they have full access.

Grilling: Dave Fishwick questioned the leader of a phone-stealing gang on Good Morning Britain

It is also common for shoulder surfers to enter a busy place on foot, such as a bar, music festival or sporting event, so that they can see the phone passcode being entered before they pick it up.

“Once a phone is taken, it’s gone,” Rich says in the interview. ‘Out of your back pocket, into a club or bar and it’s gone.’

“I have my little team, they’re going to bring me phones and I’m going to buy those phones from them.”

“They bring it back to you and what do you do?” Dave asks.

Rich replies, “They don’t have to bring them to me. All they have to do is call me and say, ‘I have these phones’, they give me the numbers and the details and when they have money on the phones they send them to my account details.’

Once the thieves get their hands on the phones, they search them for financial apps and gain access to as many apps as possible. They often change passwords and email addresses to lock out the phone owner.

They will either give the details back to Rich and allow him to tap the money, or they will do it themselves and pass on the money.

“The guys now know what to do, they have to look at certain apps and see if they can change certain passwords, they give me the account numbers or how much of the account they have and I’ll give them the account number where they can take it send,” the gang leader explained.

Teenagers make THOUSANDS a day

On a normal day, each member of his ‘team’ can swipe 18 to 20 phones and earn £15,000 to £20,000 for Rich.

It depends on how much money they can get from the phones, but their typical ‘wage’ for the day will be around £5,000 for a team of two – an amount Dave describes as ‘unbelievable’.

“One guy, he goes out with his buddy on his moped and he brings three or four phones and then they go out – three or four phones and they go out again and that’s fifteen phones on one bike,” says Rich .

When Dave asks how the young people manage to spend €2,500 in one day, Rich’s answer is: ‘Mopeds, bicycles, clothes, girls, drinks, food.’

Good Morning Britain will also speak to a victim of shoulder surfing during the show about the impact it has had on them.

How This is Money has warned about phone thefts

This is Money has also highlighted the stories of readers who had their phones taken away by thieves and then their bank accounts emptied.

In one case, a young reader had £3,900 taken from his Revolut account after his phone was taken on a night out – money that was only refunded by the financial app after our intervention. Another reader took home £2,050 in a similar situation.

Last month, Santander’s head of fraud warned customers about the practice of shoulder surfing and gave tips on how to prevent it.

Watch the full interview with Dave Fishwick on Good Morning Britain from Tuesday 25 June at 6am on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

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