Find My iPhone app discovers stolen phones 6,000 miles away in China

The devices are tracked on the same street in China (Picture: SWNS)

Phone theft victims track their stolen cellphones to the same street, nearly 6,000 miles away in China.

Using Apple’s Find My app, many say their devices appear to be located on Huafa South Road in Shenzhen, a city home to phone makers.

They are believed to be stripped for parts, put back into legal markets or turned into “Frankenstein phones” – devices that look genuine but don’t contain all the original parts.

Victim Ketan Aggarwal’s £1,000 iPhone 14 Pro was snatched from his hands in Farringdon, central London.

Using GPS tracking software, he watched it travel around the world. “My phone was cut from my ear and after tracking it to China I got a glimpse of what happens next,” added the 36-year-old from Ealing, west of London.

Ketan Aggarwal had his iPhone snatched from his hand in central London before being found in China (Picture: SWNS)

Another victim posted on Reddit: “I am shocked that these black markets are still profitable and there is nothing a company like Apple can do to stop this.”

Professor David S Wall, a cybercrime expert at the University of Leeds, said: ‘I think the SIM cards must have been active when they were sent to China. Victims should cancel their service as soon as their phone is stolen or lost.

Shenzhen has been described as “Silicon Valley’s go-to hardware garage” by Wired magazine. “Chips, circuit boards, packages, cameras – it’s all here,” he reported.

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