Thieves stole 20 phones during a single Brooklyn concert, The Post has learned \u2014 as one expert warns it\u2019s part of a growing trend targeting crowded music venues tied to an international black market.<\/p>\n
Cops were called to punk band Hot Mulligan\u2019s performance at the Brooklyn Paramount on Nov. 7 when a slew of unsuspecting concertgoers were seemingly pickpocketed\u2013 with the thieves turning off the phones so they couldn\u2019t be tracked, officials confirmed.<\/p>\n
Police were called to the Brooklyn Paramount in Downtown Brooklyn during punk band Hot Mulligan\u2019s show, where 20 phones were reported stolen. Google Maps<\/p>\n
No arrests have been made to date, but the investigation is still ongoing, an NYPD rep said.<\/p>\n
Attendee James Crowley, 31, said he saw multiple people scanning the floor at the Downtown Brooklyn venue, looking for phones that they thought they might have dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been going to shows since I was 14\u2026I\u2019ve never seen anything like that,\u201d Crowley said.<\/p>\n
One bystander finally said, \u201cI think people are having their phones taken,\u201d according to Crowley.<\/p>\n
The incident is the latest in a growing series of mass phone thefts, with the stolen goods oftentimes winding up in China as part of a wildly-lucrative resale market, cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano told The Post.<\/p>\n
The surge in demand for secondhand phones in China began in 2022 as the world emerged from pandemic lockdowns, Siciliano said. Now, the average iPhone is worth between $300 to $500 to thieves \u2014 and Chinese resellers can generate up to $5,000 in profit for a single phone stolen from the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is that the devices themselves are getting much more expensive\u201d with iPhone prices nearly doubling over the last decade<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cUS-based devices that are stolen can easily be used in countries like China, because their networks aren\u2019t following the same blacklist protocols as we do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lackadaisical prosecution of petty thefts in \u201cmostly blue states,\u201d paired with limited police resources, has led to thieves \u201crealizing that they were literally getting away with crime,\u201d Siciliano said.<\/p>\n Ultimately, only about 5 to 10% of US phone theft cases are solved, Siciliano said, as lengthy investigations require cops to crack password-protected devices and go after the middlemen shipping devices overseas.<\/p>\n \u201cThey often don\u2019t have the budgets for that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n In addition to the Brooklyn Paramount, police reports were filed over the summer for phone thefts at Under the K Bridge (above) and Brooklyn Storehouse, police sources confirmed. Wayne Carrington<\/p>\n In addition to the Brooklyn Paramount, police reports were filed over the summer for phone thefts at Under the K Bridge and Brooklyn Storehouse, police confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cHad my phone stolen last night [at] Under the K Bridge, both the police and the guy at Verizon said 20+ people have come in today with the same story,\u201d one Reddit user wrote in August.<\/a><\/p>\n Another Reddit user described a \u201cwhole line of people at lost and found missing phones\u201d after punk band Turnstile\u2019s concert at the same outdoor venue in June. <\/p>\n Turnstile\u2019s summer tour appears to have been rife with pickpocketing complaints, with hundreds of apparent victims<\/a> leading the band to project an on-screen warning to fans in Los Angeles: \u201cAttention secure your phone K thnx bye.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like that,\u201d avid concertgoer James Crowley, 31, said of the mass phone theft at the Brooklyn Paramount. Tiktok\/jamespcrowley<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Live Nation, the Brooklyn Paramount\u2019s operator, told The Post there have not been any \u201cnotable\u201d theft reports at the music hall outside the Nov. 7 incident, and deferred all further questions to the NYPD.<\/p>\n Monica Minier, a Queens resident who says she attends at least two concerts a week, told The Post her phone was swiped at a show for the first time at Warsaw in Brooklyn on Oct. 9 during rock band High Vis\u2019 concert.<\/p>\n \u201cMultiple\u201d others were pickpocketed in the same night, according to one Reddit thread.<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cIt was clearly [part of] a pattern,\u201d Minier, 46, said, noting she stood on a lost-and-found line with a woman whose wallet had been swiped. \u201cI ended up leaving to go home and wipe my phone, and then about five days later \u2026 it ended up in China.\u201d<\/p>\n A request for comment from Warsaw\u2019s management was not returned.<\/p>\n Minier, who said she didn\u2019t file a police report, said she is more upset at Warsaw\u2019s management than the thieves \u2013 and demands increased, more visible venue security in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cHire more staff or be more visible,\u201d she fumed, \u201cbut I don\u2019t see what\u2019s in it for [the venue] unless people stop going to shows because they\u2019re afraid of this.<\/p>\n The crime trend is \u201con the rise, and it is global,\u201d said Robert Siciliano, a cybersecurity expert and\u00a0CEO of Protect Now LLC. Safr.Me<\/p>\n Until then, Minier said she will start using a tether on her phone. Crowley has similarly begun wearing pants with front-zippers to shows to deter thieves.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really disappointing,\u201d Minier said. <\/p>\n \u201cThis feels new, this feels targeted, and it certainly feels like something that, now that it has worked, will continue to get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the apparent trend, an NYPD spokesperson told The Post pickpocket complaints are down citywide 11%, 1,474 in 2024 to 1,318 this year to date.<\/p>\n Pickpocket crews were busted swiping phones as recently as this summer at the Governor\u2019s Ball Festival in Queens<\/a>. All were released without bail pending return court appearances.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t