Three people have spoken out about being robbed while swimming at Hunter beaches in the past four weeks. In each of the separate incidents, the victim called their stolen phone and were asked for money to have it returned.

A 19-year-old Wangi Wangi woman, who asked not to be identified, said she was at Bar Beach with a friend on Australia Day when the pair left their mobile phones in a bag under a towel and went for a swim.

Minutes later they returned to find one mobile phone had been stolen. The theft was reported to lifeguards who made an announcement over the loud speaker asking for any information, but the iPhone 6 was not returned. The woman said she called and sent text messages to the phone that was initially turned off. She called again later in the day and a man picked up.

She negotiated to pay $300 to get the phone back.

“I hadn’t backed up my phone and I was more worried about losing my photos than anything else,” she said.

“There was no way I was going to meet them, but I got two male friends to go and when they handed over the money, they gave back the phone. I didn’t report it to police because I didn’t think there was much they could do.”

Lake Macquarie police duty officer Chief Inspector Murray Lundberg urged victims not to negotiate with thieves.

“People should report the incident as soon as possible to police so we can put in place an early investigation to avoid the other crime of demanding money,” he said. 

“It’s far too dangerous to negotiate with these people, you have no idea who you are dealing with.”

A second woman said she fell for the exact same scam after her bag, including her phone valued at more than $1000, was stolen from Newcastle beach two weeks ago. She paid $400 to have it returned. 

Last week a Belmont man had his phone and keys stolen from Blacksmiths Beach and paid $250 to get them back. He said it was early morning when he went for a swim and there were not that many people around so he thought it was safe to hide his things inside a towel.

“I called the phone repeatedly and eventually they picked up,” he said.

“They told me I could get it back but it was going to cost me. I met them a few hours later in a public place, near where they took my stuff, and they handed it over. It was worth more than $250 to me to get it back.”

The thieves were described as two men aged in their late teens or early 20s.