‘Be mindful’: Toronto police warn of organized thieves ahead of Pride weekend

FILE - Crowds gather to watch the Toronto Pride Parade, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

Hundreds of cell phones were stolen on Pride weekend in Toronto last year, and a senior officer with the city’s police force says he’d be surprised if the organized rings weren’t going to be at it again this weekend.

Chief Supt. Mandeep Mann told reporters on Thursday that 300 cell phones had been reported stolen—a major uptick from previous festivals—and that’s a sign that thieves will see this weekend as another opportunity.

“We know that individuals are going to be out there looking to take advantage—I will be surprised if they don’t,” Mann said as he addressed some of the security measures the service will be taking as one of the largest Pride festivals in the world gets underway.

“We’re asking people to keep things tight, close to their body, in bags in front of them, in pockets, and just be aware and be mindful,” he said.

• RELATED: Toronto police seeing increased reports of pickpockets targeting cellphones at public festivals

Something similar happened to Mihael Adler when he and his family were visiting Mel Lastman Square for an Asian Heritage Month celebration in May.

A relative put the new iPhone 16 down, and within moments, it was gone, Adler said. He followed its location to a few apartment buildings in North York, and then the phone showed up in a location he never expected.

“About four days ago, it pinged that it was in Vietnam,” he said.

The international trade in phones is one way to escape phone blacklists and the remote locks and resets customers using Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android phones can put on them, said digital security expert Claudiu Popa.

“A lot of phones that would not function here in North America will function just fine on a different continent,” he said.

Most times, thieves will try to take a phone while it’s unlocked, because that means they can access the apps that can sometimes lead to an even bigger take.

A Fox TV station in Minneapolis showed how thieves used banking apps on stolen phones to drain hundreds of thousands of dollars from their victims.

And if they can’t use the phone as a whole device, they can always break it into pieces, Popa said.

“Cellphones can also be taken apart to their core components, and they are worth a lot of money because screens, batteries, cameras, and chips have a ton of value,” he said.

Reached as he walked down Church Street on Thursday, Anief Williams told CTV News he’s had three phones stolen in the past year in public places, including libraries and subways.

“It’s ridiculous man, it’s not cool,” he said.