Opportunistic thief steals brand new iPhone while owner chats with shop customer

This is the sneaky moment the opportunistic thief snatched a shop assistant's iPhone XR as they talked with a customer.

Nonthanan Khanthamthip, 23, put his own brand new smartphone on the counter while showing handsets to a male shopper at the department store in Bangkok, Thailand.

CCTV footage from last Thursday (March 7) shows how the thief wearing a grey t-shirt was walking towards the booth when he noticed the expensive iPhone XR on the display counter.

The thief, who pretended to be browsing, quickly grabbed the iPhone and after a few furtive glances, walked away inconspicuously while the stall owner was still busy talking.

Nonthanan tried to run after the burglar and told the mall security guards about the incident after realised his phone was stolen, but the thief already slipped away.

The iPhone owner then reported the police officers and showed the footage of the occurrence, wishing the guy to be arrested.

Speaking in the video, Khanthamthip said: ‘’I was showing one phone to the customer while I was holding my own and it was getting difficult, so I placed my phone on the glass. That’s when the guy appeared, but I didn’t see him.

‘’It was very busy because I had to take care of the stall on my own because the rest of the staff were on a break.’’