Amsterdam moved its phone theft problem
The city's own crime data, published in March 2026, says the opposite of every travel listicle: the old centre is calming down and the pressure has shifted somewhere else entirely. Here is the real map, the five things to do before you fly, and the number that actually works when you are a visitor.
Phone theft in Amsterdam always gets told the same way: the Red Light District, the canals, the evening crowds, watch your pockets. That is what nearly every page ranking on Google will tell you. The problem is that the City of Amsterdam publishes its own crime figures neighbourhood by neighbourhood, the latest set landed on 2 March 2026, and it tells a different story. In Burgwallen-Oude Zijde, the heart of the Red Light District, pickpocketing has clearly dropped. Meanwhile a district no travel guide mentions saw its victim count triple. If you are planning a trip, that is the map you want in your head, not the 2019 one.
The shiftThe centre eases off, the edge takes the hit
Amsterdam measures crime by neighbourhood every year, combining police records with a resident survey. The report published on 2 March 2026 is blunt on two points, and both cut against the standard advice.
First: in Burgwallen-Oude Zijde, high-volume crime fell sharply between 2024 and 2025, and the city specifies that pickpocketing in particular happened less often there. The Red Light District did not become safe. It became less profitable. Cameras, a heavier police presence, earlier closing times; the pressure did its job.
Second, and this is the one that matters: at Amsterdamse Poort, in the Zuidoost borough, the high-volume crime victimisation index went from 53 to 176 in a single year. It tripled. The city attributes that first to a rise in pickpocket victims, with street robbery up as well. No European pickpocket ranking mentions this district, because no tourist goes there to sightsee. Tens of thousands of visitors pass through it every month anyway, for one reason.
Zuidoost is the arena district, and nobody connects the two
The Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Ziggo Dome and AFAS Live sit side by side in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. Three venues, one metro and rail interchange, one shopping centre: Amsterdamse Poort. On a big night, fifty thousand people funnel through the same passage inside fifteen minutes with their phones in the air. In January 2020 Dutch police sealed the exits of a show in that same area after a tip-off from Belgian colleagues, and arrested a man carrying thirty phones in his cycling shorts. Fifty more had been lifted at the same band's Antwerp gig days earlier. Six years on, the city's own numbers say the area has not fixed it.
The mapFour zones, ranked by actual pressure
The city names four neighbourhoods where residents most often report being victims: Burgwallen-Nieuwe and -Oude Zijde, the Jordaan, Amsterdamse Poort and its surroundings, and Buitenveldert Oost. Three of those four are on your itinerary. Here is what that changes.
Amsterdamse Poort and Zuidoost on show nights
The zone that moved the most, and the one nobody warns you about. The risk is not spread out; it sits in two twenty-minute windows, going in and coming out, plus the metro platform after. Leave before the encore or wait twenty minutes longer inside. During the show, if you are filming with your arm stretched overhead, that is exactly the position a phone leaves your hand from, and exactly when it needs to be attached to you.
Centraal Station and the tram corridor
Where almost every visitor enters the city, and the weakest link of the day: you arrive with a suitcase, a ticket to tap, a map open and a phone in your hand. The lines running from Centraal to the museum quarter are the busiest in town. The critical moment is boarding: the door closes, you are wedged in, and the person behind you has both hands free. Put everything away before you reach the platform, not once you are inside. Our guide to phone theft on public transport covers where to stand in a packed carriage.
The Burgwallen: falling, still first
The nuance matters. Pickpocketing is down in Oude Zijde, but both Burgwallen remain the neighbourhoods where residents most often report being victims, and the sense of insecurity there is still climbing. Practical translation: the statistic is improving, your evening is not. The narrow lanes between canals, the moment bars empty out and the clusters in front of windows are all places where a phone held out at arm's length is visible from a long way off.
The Jordaan and the museum queues
The Jordaan appears on the city's official high-victimisation list, and it is the least intuitive of the four: you go there for quiet streets and photogenic facades. That is the problem. You stop mid-bridge, back to the road, phone out over the water, for fifteen seconds. Same in the queues outside the museums. Theft does not need a crowd. It needs your attention to be elsewhere.
The planFive things to do before you fly, not once you land
Write your IMEI down outside the phone
Dial *#06# and copy the number into a notebook, an email to yourself or a password manager. Without it you cannot get the handset blocked, and your insurer will ask for it too. Two minutes tonight, impossible to find once the phone is gone.
Get your backup codes out of the device
If your phone is your second authentication factor, losing it abroad also locks you out of your email, your bank and your booking app at the exact moment you need them. Generate the backup codes for your two or three critical accounts and keep them on paper, in the bag, not in the phone's cloud.
Lock the wallet before you leave
An unlocked phone at the moment of theft hands over contactless payments and sometimes banking apps. Require biometrics or a passcode for every payment and cut auto-lock to thirty seconds. The full breakdown is in our piece on the fraud that follows a phone theft.
Decide now how you will carry it
This is the only decision that works during the theft rather than after it. Back pocket, loose hand, open bag: three ways of making the phone available. The question to settle before you go is simple. When you are filming a canal at arm's length, what holds the phone if someone pulls? Our seven pickpocket techniques to know shows how short the window is.
Save the two Dutch numbers
112 for something happening right now, 0900-8844 for everything else. Those are the only two you need, and they belong somewhere other than the device that might disappear. The next section explains why the second one is essential for visitors.
Discover LOCKÜP
Check the current product page for price, availability, included components and compatibility before choosing.
View the product page →The emergencyThe online police report trap in the Netherlands
Here is the detail most articles skip, and it costs you half a holiday. Dutch police let you report a theft online, in English, from their website. Except the form requires a DigiD login, the national digital identity. If you are not a Dutch resident you do not have one, and the door is shut.
Two routes remain. Call 0900-8844, the police non-emergency line, and book an appointment at a station. Or walk into a city-centre station directly. Bring ID, the IMEI, and the approximate time and place of the theft. The case number they give you is the only thing your insurer cares about when you get home; most policies require a police report within 24 to 48 hours.
| Situation | What to do | Number | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft in progress, assault | Emergency call, free across the European Union | 112 | Immediately |
| Theft noticed afterwards | Police non-emergency line, appointment at a station | 0900-8844 | Same day |
| Online report | Dutch DigiD holders only | Unavailable | — |
| Blocking the line | Your carrier, IMEI in hand | Your carrier | Within the hour |
| From abroad | Same police line, international dialling | +31 343 578 844 | After you return |
Worth knowing: if you fly home without managing to report it, Dutch police will in some cases accept a report after the fact, particularly for street robbery involving contact. It is not automatic and you ask by phone. For the exact order of operations in the minutes after, our guide to the first ten minutes after a phone theft fits on one page.
"Extra police went to the concert in Amsterdam-Zuidoost after a tip-off from Belgian police. Fifty mobiles had been stolen at a gig in Antwerp."
BBC News, 22 January 2020 · The pickpocket was carrying thirty phones on himWhat that case shows, and what annual statistics hide, is that phone theft in Amsterdam is not the isolated accident of a distracted tourist. It is organised, mobile, and it follows events from city to city. You do not protect yourself from an organised crew by paying attention. You protect yourself by adding an attachment that makes a quick snatch harder. That is the same logic behind our ranking of the cities where phones get stolen most and our Lisbon guide, where the pattern repeats.
FAQPhone theft in Amsterdam: your questions
Is Amsterdam dangerous for tourists in 2026?
Not in terms of violence. Amsterdam remains a safe city to walk, including at night. The real exposure is property theft, not assault. The city figures published in March 2026 actually show recorded crime edging down between 2024 and 2025. What is rising is the share of residents saying they were victims, and that rise is driven by high-volume crime, pickpocketing included.
Which Amsterdam neighbourhood is worst for phone theft?
It depends when. Across the year, Burgwallen-Nieuwe and -Oude Zijde remain where people most often report being victims. But the sharpest rise between 2024 and 2025 belongs to Amsterdamse Poort in Zuidoost, where the high-volume crime victimisation index went from 53 to 176. That is the arena district, and the risk concentrates on show nights.
Can a tourist report a stolen phone online in the Netherlands?
In practice, no. The Dutch police online form requires DigiD identification, which is for residents. A visitor has to call 0900-8844 to book an appointment, or walk into a police station. 112 is for emergencies in progress only. From abroad, the same line is reachable on +31 343 578 844.
Are pickpockets really a problem on Amsterdam trams?
Yes, and the precise moment is boarding a busy carriage. The lines linking Centraal Station to the museum quarter carry most of the city's visitors, suitcase and map in hand. The single most effective rule fits in one sentence: put your phone away before you reach the platform, never once you are inside.
What should you do in the minutes after your phone is stolen in Amsterdam?
In order: mark the device as lost from another phone to lock it remotely, call your carrier to suspend the line and have the IMEI blocked, change your email password, and only then call 0900-8844 to file the report. The order matters more than the speed. Locking before reporting stops someone using your payments while you are on hold with the police.
Keep your phone within reach
The phone stays on your wrist in the tram, at the show and over the canal. You stop thinking about it.
Shop the LOCKÜP collection →Sources: City of Amsterdam, Onderzoek en Statistiek, "Openbare orde en veiligheid in cijfers 2026", 2 March 2026 · Politie, reporting a crime committed abroad, and the 112 / 0900-8844 lines · Politie, theft report form · BBC News, "Man arrested with 30 phones in cycling shorts after rock gig", 22 January 2020. Written by the CARRY U team. Updated August 2026.