A wonderful night out at Paaspop in Schijndel, but then your phone suddenly turns out to be gone. It happened to Eric Hendriks (51) from Helmond. He could track his phone online and saw his mobile leave the Paaspop site in Schijndel and end up in Brussels. Where the device can still be seen. But he doesn’t have his stolen iPhone back.
The iPhone was less than three months old, he says. “It is said so often, be careful not to get rolled. Oh well, that won’t happen to me, you think. But it goes so fast, I didn’t notice it.”
It is then Friday evening half past eight, he is at a performance by Mr. Belt & Wezol in the tent The Silver Warehouse. As soon as he misses his phone, he checks his wife’s phone via ‘Find my iPhone’ to see if the device can still be tracked. And yes, the device is also staying in The Silver Warehouse at that time.
“I could clearly see that the perpetrator was moving on the train and subway.”
“I thought, then I must have lost it. Until the device moved towards the exit. Then I feared it had been stolen.” The Helmonder is also heading in that direction, but the location approach is not so accurate that he knows exactly who is walking around with his phone.
“In the end I saw that the aircraft traveled via Den Bosch to Breda, then to Antwerp and to Brussels. I could clearly see that the perpetrator was moving on the train and subway. I had no transport at Paaspop, so couldn’t do much more. I approached another agent, but he was also of little help.”
Eric has remotely locked the phone and made sure his data is safe. The SIM card is blocked, as are its payment options. He also reported the theft.
“What should have been a fun day ends in a hangover without alcohol.”
On Sunday, the police announced that a Romanian man had been caught red-handed pickpocketing at Paaspop. He was found to keep nine stolen phones in his hotel room. A woman from Den Bosch then also told Omroep Brabant that she could track her device, but she was unable to find out exactly where her iPhone was. The police say that all rightful owners of those nine phones have now been found.
“I read that story at Omroep Brabant. Who knows, maybe there is a connection between that case and the theft of my phone. In any case, the police are looking into it.” So far, the police had fourteen reports of victims on Sunday.
Eric is not going to follow his phone, because the location is not so accurate that you can see exactly where the device is. “Very sour. After I missed my phone, I spent all night watching where it went. What should have been a fun day ends in a hangover without alcohol.”
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