Getting bank card PIN from phone/wallet theft?

[Tom_ed1987]

Saw this story on the BBC today:

Chiswick gym-goer has bank account emptied after locker raid

Charlotte believes thieves got her debit card PIN via a banking app and used it on a shopping spree.

www.bbc.com

A woman has described how criminals raided her gym locker, stole her wallet and went on an £8,000 shopping spree while she was exercising.
Charlotte, from west London, who did not want her full name published, told the BBC how she felt blamed by her bank and made to feel like a "criminal".
She believes thieves accessed her card PIN via the phone app, but Santander said she must have disclosed it...

Does anyone know how this scam might have worked?
I believe the criminals usually just do a string of contactless payments when they steal a wallet until it gets blocked, but in this case they somehow got access to the PIN, & noting the value of the purchases, possibly overcame the anti-fraud measures too?

Looks like Santander refunded some? of the money; whether that was because of social medial pressure or because there's an actual issue with their banking app/system, who knows.

 

[Tom_ed1987]

Wouldn't transferring the victims SIM to another phone just bring up the SIM lock when they turn it on, & need the SIM pin code which the thieves wouldn't have?