Music festivals and concerts are a great way to dance the night away and disconnect from the daily grind — until you get your phone stolen.
Southern California is home to many major music festivals that draw in thousands of people from across the country, including Escape Halloween in San Bernardino this weekend.
But these events also attract people who are just looking to swipe your cell phone.
What’s going on?
At this year’s Coachella, Indio Police recovered nearly 50 stolen phones . After Escape Halloween a few years ago, Downey Police recovered more than 90 phones, according to NBC4 .
And this isn’t just a SoCal issue — the Orlando Police Department recovered a backpack full of dozens of phones stolen from a festival in 2022. In Las Vegas this year, three men were arrested for allegedly stealing 33 phones. KTNV Las Vegas reported that the phones were put in bags lined with an electromagnetic material to block cell signals.
How it can happen
Kim Seeley learned the hard way about how quickly a phone can go missing in August when she was visiting Los Angeles from Denver, Colorado, for a music festival.