NJ woman’s phone found 7,000 miles away as crime wave hits Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Montclair

📱 Dozens of concertgoers in NJ, Philly & NYC say their phones vanished at live shows.
🌏 One victim tracked her stolen iPhone all the way to China.
🎶 Fans in multiple cities report what appears to be an organized phone theft ring.

Music fans in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York have been falling victim to an apparent organized ring of smartphone swipers.

Philadelphia Inquirer was the first to report that roughly 100 concertgoers with missing phones lined up at the Highmark Mann Center in West Philadelphia after a Sept. 19 show.

Phones stolen at Philadelphia concert tracked overseas

Among them was an Asbury Park woman, who told the Inquirer she used the Find My Phone feature and saw her stolen iPhone across the world, pinging in China.

Philadelphia Police were not able to confirm the number of reported thefts when reached by New Jersey 101.5 on Thursday.

"That certainly is not reflected in our statistics," a police department spokesperson said, adding the Inquirer report based its information on individual accounts.

A request for comment from the Highmark Mann Center was not immediately answered.

New York concertgoers report similar mass phone thefts

In New York City last week, dozens of fans at a different concert at the Brooklyn Paramount venue similarly reported stolen smartphones, according to witnesses and victims on TikTok and Reddit.

That incident is being investigated by the New York Police Department as potential grand larceny.

NYPD said that 20 people reported being inside of 385 Flatbush Ave. when they realized their phones were missing.

"The victims stated they turned off their phones and therefore cannot be tracked," a spokesperson said to New Jersey 101.5 on Thursday.

In the Brooklyn incident, no arrests have been made.

New Jersey fans also targeted at Montclair’s Wellmont Theater

A similar, though smaller-scale incident struck in New Jersey over the summer.

Montclair Police reported that five concertgoers on Aug. 2 at the Wellmont Theater reported their cellphones as stolen from their pockets during a show.

The stolen devices were all iPhones, ranging from model 14, 15, and 16.

Global crews, including in London, link back to China

In London alone in 2024, police received reports of 80,000 phones being snatched from residents and tourists, the New York Times reported, in effort to supply a black market for the devices in China.

Anyone worried about keeping a phone secure during a concert can follow some time-vetted tips for European travelers.

📱Wear a phone lanyard
📱Keep phones stashed in front-worn pockets or bags
📱Consider adding zipper clips
📱Enable anti-theft settings on device, when possible

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