What began as a relaxing family holiday in Tenerife quickly turned into a nightmare for a British tourist, who nearly lost everything to a sophisticated theft. It was his second visit to the island in less than a year, and he had expected it to be as peaceful as the last, but a single evening changed everything.
According to the Daily Mail, the holidaymaker was walking back to his hotel after dinner, when a teenager, thought to be around 15 years old, suddenly snatched his unlocked mobile phone from his hand and disappeared into the darkness. “I thought they just wanted the phone, which was already broken. I never imagined they were after all my money,” he said.
What he soon discovered was far worse. Within hours, he began receiving dozens of email notifications on his laptop from the financial app Revolut. His personal and business accounts had been emptied.
The thieves, having gained access to his passwords via the stolen device’s data manager, quickly took control of his financial life, transferring money, buying cryptocurrencies, and even ordering food, all while posing as him. In total, the scammers managed to steal £85,000 in just a couple of hours.
The worst part, he explained, was the overwhelming difficulty of trying to regain control. “Revolut doesn’t have a customer service phone line. I had to rely on chat support, but the security codes were being sent to the stolen phone,” he said. While his family continued enjoying their holiday on the beach, he spent three days at the hotel reception, desperately trying to get help.
Even after returning to the UK, the ordeal didn’t end. The fraudsters continued to target him, attempting to access his pension funds and credit cards. “If I hadn’t acted quickly, they would’ve taken every last penny,” he warned.
The incident highlights the growing risks faced by tourists abroad, particularly in an increasingly digital world where a stolen phone can open the door to one’s entire financial identity.
