Moment TikToker accidentally captures 'serial thief' using distraction ... trends now

This is the moment a TikToker accidentally captured a 'serial thief' using a distraction technique to swipe her phone from under her nose - a trick which many others claim to have fallen victim to.

Aminah Ali, 25, was filming a video of a friend outside a restaurant in London earlier this month, when a woman arrived 'out of nowhere'.

The content creator claims the lady asked for money, but as she did so was waving a piece of paper, which she sneakily allowed to drop over Aminah's device so she could take it.

Aminah only realised her phone was missing a few minutes later and her 'heart dropped' when her friend Iryna Leterova revealed she had captured the moment the alleged thief positioned the paper so she could swipe the device.

Have YOU fallen victim to phone swiping? Email [email protected] 

Footage posted on TikTok shows a woman approaching Aminah's table and you can see the content creator cautiously grab her bag but forget to pick up her phone, which the alleged crook begins to place a piece of paper over as a distraction.

In a follow-up video, Aminah issues a strong message to help others take precautions as 'your phone can be snatched out of your hand at any time'.

Dozens of TikTok users flooded the comments section to say that the 'same thing' happened to them and many even recognised the woman as having allegedly done the same scam to them.

Other users branded Aminah 'crazy' for leaving her phone exposed in central London.

Aminah, from London, said: 'It was just shocking how something can happen so close to you but you don't realise it in the moment.

'Everything happens so fast. Even now it's like a blur. They are very, very good at what they do. It can happen to anyone, even if you are aware of the situation.

'My friend was taking videos of me so I put my phone on the table. I guess the lady saw my phone was on the table and she came up to me.

'She came out of nowhere behind a car - obviously I was a target. For a while she was watching me. My friend that was recording me stopped because the lady came into the shot.

'She was asking me for money. Then she put the paper in front of my phone so I forgot it was there.

'I was making sure she didn't take my bag not realising that my phone was still there. In that moment I just completely forgot about my phone.

'When I got up I looked around and my phone was not there. My heart dropped because I knew she took it. I only realised two or three minutes later.