File photo

It was a bad market day for a thief who launched an operation in a phone shop as CCTV has exposed his crime.

The man, whose identity is not known, was captured on the footage stealing a mobile phone after tactically distracting the sales person.

In a one-minute attack, the thief managed to snatch one of the phones he was selecting from, and hid it under a newspaper he was carrying.

He continued his selection which threw suspicion off him, as the sales person was engaged on a phone.

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The video did not capture if the thievery was successful or not, but the release of the footage subtly indicates the skillful thief was victorious.

Watch video below: