An influencer has warned Londoners to be on alert after a thief walked into her changing room and stole her brand new Birkin bag.
Janice Joostema posted CCTV footage of the moment her £10,000 red Hermes JPG Shoulder Birkin was swiped while trying on clothes in Manière De Voir on Oxford Street.
The 29-year-old’s passport was also inside the bag, forcing the model to cancel her upcoming holiday to Switzerland.
Footage shows the thief walking around the shop looking for the perfect moment to steal something.
She is then seen sneaking into the changing room while Janice ‘was probably topless’ and facing away from the door.
The thief walks back out with the Birkin bag on her arm before racing downstairs and fleeing with the purse.
Janice can be seen running out of the changing room trying to work out what happened.
She has been unable to retrieve her bag, but has issued a warning to Londoners and her 1.2 million followers while posting the footage.
She wrote: ‘Londoners beware. Thieves are coming into dressing rooms when they see you turned, they are watching you while you are changing and naked just to steal your belongings.
‘My brand new Hermes shoulder Birkin I had less than a week was stolen while I was turned around in this room changing into a top, I was facing away from the door as the room is all windows.
‘She poked her head in twice, I was naïve and thought maybe she was innocently looking for the bathroom or something.’
Janice added she was ‘thankful to be unharmed’ but she still feels ‘violated and scared’.
She said: ‘To work so hard for something and it be taken like this, is gut wrenching, for someone to purchase such items is a big deal, it’s not something small.
‘I don’t want to be materialistic but it’s the human morals and principle of the value of money and that cuts deep for someone who’s always dreamt of having a Hermès bag and it being taken like this.
‘The bag is definitely long gone by now but it’s not worth it to put ourselves at risk trying to catch these people.
‘But everyone, please be careful, take what happened to me as a reminder to be extra aware of your surroundings, don’t face away from your belongings, get cute mini locks for bags that can close.’
London areas with the highest rate of pickpocketing:
Westminster – 133.21 per 1,000 residents
Camden – 31.41 per 1,000 residents
Southwark – 19.03 per 1,000 residents
Kensington and Chelsea – 18.86 per 1,000 residents
Hackney – 14.67 per 1,000 residents
Islington – 12.8 per 1,000 residents
Lambeth – 10.87 per 1,000 residents
Newham – 10.65 per 1,000 residents
Tower Hamlets – 9.23 per 1,000 residents
Haringey – 9.04 per 1,000 residents
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘On Tuesday, 17 December, following circulation of a video of the incident, officers contacted the victim of a theft that happened inside a shop in Oxford Street.
‘No arrests have been made at this stage. This matter is under investigation.’
It comes as thieves continue to target tourists who have visited the capital for Christmas.
Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland has already been hit by pickpockets, after one woman had £500 worth of gadgets stolen from her.
Charlie Hernan travelled all the way from Plymouth to visit Winter Wonderland on Friday with her boyfriend Sam when she had £500 filming equipment taken from her.
She told Metro: ‘I brought my GoPro and bought a new modification and memory card just the day before for my Youtube channel.
‘I was filming my boyfriend near a ride, put the camera in my pocket and when I went to take it back out 30 seconds later, it was gone.’
Between March 2023 and 2024, the Metropolitan Police received more than 79,000 reports of pickpockets.
Some 28,155 were reported in Westminster, with one in seven people in the area having something – mainly mobile phones – stolen from them.
This marks a 712% increase in the area from three years ago, and is by far the highest rate of thefts across the capital.
Influencer’s £10,000 bag stolen while she was trying on clothes at luxury London store
Influencer’s £10,000 bag stolen while she was trying on clothes at luxury London store