Shocking moment thief steals kind-hearted woman's phone after walking into her shop and claiming he was an Italian tourist who needed help with a translation By Andrew Levy Published: 19:30 BST, 6 August 2024 | Updated: 19:30 BST, 6 August 2024 e-mail View comments This is the moment a greedy distraction thief walked away with a kind-hearted woman's phone after duping her into thinking he needed help. Florin Petrache strolled into the business claiming to be an Italian called Mario who needed help translating something. When his victim offered to take a look, he took a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it, and held it in front of her to read at her desk.
With her mobile phone momentarily obscured from her view, he used sleight of hand to grab it behind the sheet of paper he was holding and carry it away. He then casually folded the paper around the handset with his other hand to make sure it was completely concealed from view as he left the premises. Florin Petrache strolled into the business claiming to be an Italian called Mario The 'lost tourist' distraction technique was used repeatedly by Petrache and an accomplice, Gabriel Stanescu, who acted as driver for the pair.
Over the course of just a few weeks in February and March this year, they managed to steal around £50,000 worth of mobile phones and cash using the same system in businesses including beauty salons, estate agents, dental surgeries and even a library. Sometimes a leaflet was used instead of a sheet .