Lee Thompson was recruited as the ‘The Piccadilly Pickpocket’ to pinch people’s phones – before handing them straight back and asking for payment – to show how many people are being fleeced by their mobile phone provider.

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Overpaying for smartphones is estimated to cost Brits more than £530m every year, with the average impacted consumer overpaying by more than £200 annually – and unlike pickpocketing phones, it is not illegal.

The pickpocket was working with Virgin Media O2, which also commissioned research of 2,000 adults that found more than a quarter (28 per cent) of those on a contract believe they are overpaying.

Millions end up overpaying for their smartphones once they fall out of contract because most network providers don’t fully or automatically reduce customers’ bills once they’ve paid for the cost of the phone, meaning they are still being charged for something they already own.

Rob Orr, chief operations officer at Virgin Media O2, which is urging consumers to check if they’re overpaying using a new online overpayment calculator, said: “Every day, millions of people are unknowingly paying for phones they already own when they could be saving a fortune.

“Our research shows millions of phone users are rightly unhappy they’re being asked to pay twice for their phones.

“We’re continuing to shine a light on this pernicious practise to ensure Brits stop paying for what’s rightfully theirs.”

The new research also found more than a quarter (28 per cent) of respondents have been with the same network for more than 10 years, with 26 per cent having had only one handset across the decade.

Consumers in this situation could well have paid for their smartphone twice or three times over.

Two thirds said they would be unhappy if they found out they were being charged for a phone they had already paid for, but 30 per cent admit they rarely check their mobile phone bill to see if they have.

Had they known at the start of their contract they could be overcharged for their smartphone, almost half (48 per cent) admit they would never have signed up.

A staggering 82 per cent said the onus should be on the network operators to stop overcharging consumers, yet millions of consumers across the country are set to unwittingly keep making payments towards handsets they already own in a problem that’s set to run and run.

More than half (52 per cent) admitted they did not how much it would cost to buy their handset outright when they took out their contract, yet without this information consumers are left in the dark as to how much they’re paying towards their devices.

And 43 per cent of those surveyed, via OnePoll, admitted they would take their custom elsewhere if they found out they were overpaying for their phone.

When asked what would prevent them back from switching network providers almost a quarter (23 per cent) said they’ve been with the same provider for years, unaware they may have been overcharged, with 16 per cent believing all providers were the same.

Virgin Media O2’s Rob Orr said: “For the past decade, O2 has been the only network operator to have been automatically and fully reducing customers’ bills once their handset has been paid off.

“But unfortunately, millions of people on other networks are getting swindled without even realising.

“At a time when three quarters of Brits have had to cut back on spending, it can’t be right that other mobile network operators are continuing to charge their customers hundreds of pounds for phones they’ve already paid for.

“That money could go a long way right now, so we’re urging everyone to check they’re not overpaying using our online calculator which reveals in just seconds if they’re at risk.

“Customers of all networks can use it and we hope that it arms them with the information they need to stop paying for things they already own.

“Almost two thirds said they’d feel ripped off if they overpaid for a coffee, so why do it with your smartphone?”