It took just seconds for a masked man on an e-bike to snatch my smartphone out of my hands as I waited for a bus in central London in morning rush hour.
He silently cruised up on the pavement behind me, swiping my phone in one efficient and no doubt well-practised manoeuvre while I was in the middle of sending a message. I was stunned, rather than hurt — he barely touched me — but my first reaction was one of fear. Had my phone screen remained unlocked?
As he zoomed off, I realised chasing after him was futile. Instead, I raced home to kill the phone and secure my data remotely before he could change my passwords and steal from me for a second time.