ThummerPhone Theft in Rome: A Traveler's Guide (2026)
You squeeze onto the Metro at Termini, phone in hand, checking how many stops to the Colosseum. The doors open, the crowd shifts, and someone bumps into you. In Rome, that is one way it happens. Petty theft is common where visitors gather. Here's what the official numbers show, where and how thefts happen, and what to do in the first minutes if your phone is taken.
How big is the problem?
Reported crime in Italy fell 1.8% in 2025, the first drop after four years of increases. Rome still sits near the top of the national rankings. Il Sole 24 Ore's annual crime index, built on Interior Ministry police data and published in October 2026, ranks the province of Rome third in Italy for crimes reported per resident in 2025, behind Milan and Florence. Reports in Rome fell 5.3% from 2024. These figures cover the whole province and all crimes, not just thefts from tourists.
Nationally, the same 2025 data show pickpocketing (furti con destrezza) down 6% and street robberies down 7.7%. In Il Sole 24 Ore's summary, Rome's city councillor for security, Francesco Greco, credits police presence for a drop in pickpocketing, though the summary gives no Rome pickpocketing count.
Italy's statistics office, ISTAT, measures crime a different way: by asking people. Its victimization survey for 2022–2023 found that 1.0% of residents had been pickpocketed in the previous 12 months. People who rode public transport daily or almost daily were about five times as likely to be pickpocketed as those who never or almost never did (2.8% vs. 0.5%). Property crimes against people as a group were also far more common in the big cities (5.3%, against a 2.3% national average).
The U.S. State Department rates Italy at Level 2, "Exercise increased caution," because of terrorism, not crime. Its country page says petty crime is common, especially at popular tourist sites and on public transportation, and that most crimes against foreigners are crimes of opportunity such as purse snatching and pickpocketing.
Where phones are taken
Termini and the Metro. The UK government tells travelers to Italy to take care on public transport and in main train and metro stations. Recent arrests in Rome bear that out. In May 2026, Carabinieri reported three people accused of cutting the pockets of travelers asleep on benches at Termini to take wallets and phones. In June 2026, the Polizia di Stato's Metro unit reported a theft arrest between the Colosseo stop and Via dei Fori Imperiali, where a man allegedly shoved a tourist in the crowd to take a phone. In March 2026, police arrested two women accused of stealing a tourist's wallet on a train at Colosseo station while the doors were open.
Bus 64. The 64 runs from Termini to St. Peter's and is packed with visitors. In November 2024, Carabinieri arrested 17 people for thefts in tourist areas, including on a line 64 bus, on the Metro at Termini, and at the Spagna and Cavour stops. Two of the cases were at the Colosseum, one involving a tourist taking photos.
Cafés and piazzas. The UK also flags bars, cafés, restaurants and major tourist attractions. In September 2025, Open reported that thieves pick tourists who rest a bag on a chair or stop to take a selfie. At the Pantheon, a thief took a slice of pizza off a tourist's plate to distract her, then ran off with her phone.
How thieves operate
- Distraction. The UK warns of thieves using distraction techniques, such as asking for help or directions. On a bus toward St. Peter's in 2026, a woman allegedly pretended to drop her phone while an accomplice took a wallet.
- The crowd squeeze. Thieves bump or press against you in a packed train or at a doorway, as in the Colosseo case, where one woman distracted the victim while the other took the wallet.
- The sleeping traveler. A long wait at Termini is a target. The May 2026 case involved small scissors and sliced pockets.
Habits that help
- Set up your phone before you fly. On Android, turn on Find Hub and theft protection, including Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock. On iPhone, turn on Find My and Stolen Device Protection, which may already be on.
- Write down your IMEI and serial number. Find them in your phone's settings and keep them off the phone, with your bank's and carrier's numbers.
- Put the phone away on the Metro and bus 64, especially near the doors.
- Step out of the flow at Trevi and the Colosseum before taking photos or checking a map.
- Keep it off café tables, and don't hang bags on chairs.
- Don't doze with a phone in your pocket at Termini; keep it in a zipped inner pocket or bag on your lap.
If your phone is taken
Never chase or resist. Apple advises: don't try to recover the device yourself; contact local police instead. Get somewhere safe and borrow a phone. For a step-by-step list, see what to do in the first 10 minutes.
- Call 112 if you're in danger. It's Italy's emergency number.
- Lock the phone remotely. Use Find Hub, or Google's Remote Lock at android.com/lock, where you enter your phone number. Google says it needs a working SIM, a verified number, Find Hub turned on and an internet connection. On iPhone, mark it as lost at iCloud.com/find.
- Call your bank to freeze cards, then change your email and banking passwords. The U.S. Embassy lists toll-free Italian numbers for major card issuers.
- Call your carrier to suspend the line and, if your plan covers it, file a claim.
- File a police report (denuncia) with the Polizia di Stato or the Carabinieri, and keep a copy. The U.S. Embassy notes a copy of the police report is needed for things like replacing airline tickets. Italy's pilot online reporting service requires an Italian SPID or CIE digital ID, which most visitors don't have. The Carabinieri's Denuncia Vi@Web lets you start a theft report online in Italian, but you must finalize it at a Carabinieri station within 48 hours.
- If your passport was taken, call the U.S. Embassy in Rome at 06-46741 (from outside Italy, 011-39-06-46741). For a lost or stolen passport it can issue a same-day limited-validity passport if your application arrives before noon on a business day. The UK warns that a police report alone won't get you out of Italy.
The bottom line
Reported crime in Rome fell in 2025, but the province still ranks third in Italy, and pickpockets work the same places visitors go: Termini, the Metro, bus 64, the Colosseum and busy cafés. Set up remote locking before you land, keep your phone put away in crowds, and if it happens, let it go and follow the steps above.
Another option is an app that guards the phone while it's unlocked and in use. Apps like Thummer lock an Android phone when it's pulled from your hand.