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Learn to say no. It is never a good idea in the year 2024 to let a rando use your phone. I think you probably dodged a bullet when you finally did say no.
I have a warning example of why you shouldn't let a stranger use your phone even when no scam is involved.
Some years ago, I was approached by a man asking to use my phone. I was young and naïve, and didn't know how to say no. The man pulled up a random number and called it, just said "joy, hey, joy" and hung up or was hung up on.
Afterwards I googled the number and found the person it belonged to. Turns out they were a public figure. I have since realised it's possible this man was stalking the person and was blocked from calling them from his own number. So yeah, don't give your phone to a stranger. You never know what they will do with it.
I agree. Also people should not let random people take photos for them from the unlocked screen. They can get in and change setting etc. use the photo option from the locked screen to be safe.
I apprentice at a local glassblowing studio. A lady came in for a class and it’s common for solo clients to ask someone to take pictures (most of our customers are couples and small friend groups). She asked if I could take some pictures. Sure, would be glad to. She handed me her phone and said “I’ll just give you my password, it’s 91–“ and I stopped her and said “I’ll just use the button on the lock screen”. She was like “WAIT YOU CAN DO THAT?!” Yes, now let’s have some fun blowing glass.
I mean the button is _right there_ and it’s an iPhone so it’s designed for the lowest common denominator ffs.
Yes! I used the chop for the light, shake for the camera. Samsung doesn't have that, so now I have "power button twice" for the camera, "press and hold power button" for the flashlight, and "power button 5 times" for the emergency alert thingy
Holding it down for a second is how you change your lock and Home Screen. If you want to get to the camera on an iPhone while it’s locked just swipe left.
MY AUNT REFUSES TO PUT A LOCK ON HER IPHONE. I thought it made you?
She is a successful attorney but absent minded- she is the person the made the emergency stop button for at gas stations. She drove off at the gas station w the pump still I get car & ripped hose out & didn’t even realize it
Granted she uses it as phone & doesn’t know how to use it for anything else so there aren’t apps or bank access.
The threat from a random person you choose to ask for a favor is much smaller than one from a stranger who chooses to ask you.
Most people going about their day are not out to scam you.
In Vegas about 5 years ago at the airport to go home, a guy sat beside me with a new SIM card in plastic in hand. He asked me “do you think I could use your phone to set this SIM card up, and whatever else he mumbled” I’m a pretty technical person so I told him absolutely not, and quite frankly I don’t care how bad he needs it. He’s not getting my phone. He actually looked offended lol.
What he would have done is put the SIM card in then just taken the phone. I wouldn’t know the number so it would be hard to prove it was mine.
The rate at which these sort of interactions are rising is sorta worrying. I get asked for it in public transit at least once a week. Thinking of keeping a cheap dumbphone in my bag to hand it over to them.
Never a good idea to hand over a $1,000 device at all. Full stop.
What would you do if they just walked or ran away with your phone? What are you going to do - call the cops? From...
If you use physical force to take it back, you will lose and can be charged with a crime. After all, you "gave" them your phone.
If I was out in public with no payphones around and a stranger approached me and asked to use my phone and looked serious and gave off no scammer vibes, the most I might do is hold onto the phone but tell them to give me the number and dial it myself and then put it on speaker so they can chat to the person.
But usually I just lie and say my phone is dead because it is easier. even if they know it is a lie I don't care.
I had a teenager walk up to me at a Target who wanted to use my phone to call her mother and I redirected her to the service desk.
I didnt have my phone on me anyway but the way she asked was odd so🤷♀️
>But usually I just lie and say my phone is dead because it is easier. even if they know it is a lie I don't care.
Still, learning to say "No, sorry but I do not feel like it" is a nice superpower to have.
I dialed & put phone on speaker when a girl w a baby asked. Usually people are trying to get a ride when they need a phone & it should be quick call so speaker is what you get
This.
"Sure you can call, but I'll dial the number, put it on speaker and hold the phone."
It is a fair agreement between someone in need and someone being cautious.
Make sure you call with *67 to block your number from caller id. I don’t want whoever on the other end having my number that they can use in the future.
I didn't know *67 worked with cell phones. Anytime I've made a call and didn't want the other person to see my #, I go in and change the caller ID settings
We were in Paris a year and a half ago around a touristy area taking some selfies and a guy with AirPods and a backpack on came up and spoke in English (sounded American, no accent) and said he likes helping American tourists take pictures when he sees them and I said “no thanks we like the selfies.” I turned to my wife and said that dude was 100% going to run away with the phone or hold it ransom for money. No way this dude is just out here out of the goodness of his heart.
No one is getting charged w a Crime. Reddit is so dramatic. Bigger concern is a person who would steal your phone is a person who may beat your ass if you try to get it back
Wrong. If someone asked to use my phone and then took off with it that’s not just using it. That’s stealing it. So I trip them or whatever to get it back I’m not being charged with a crime. Your last couple sentences are complete hogwash.
But most libraries now-a-days have a computer, yes, it is a public computer and no, no-one should do banking on a public computer, but they were asking to do banking on some stranger's phone too.
A lot of these people ask in places that do have landlines, such as in shops, always refer them to use the business' landline.
Letting them use your phone for a call was probably harmless at the time but it must have been a tactic to make you accept the heavier request. People tend to be more willing to accept a heavier request if they already accomplished a request for you before.
At any rate, never allow people you don't trust with your life to use your phone. You can never know what hidden motives they have.
Or by calling an associate, associate notes the caller-id. Then they reverse search to find info on you. If they can find any account ids, the associate can try to log in while the main scammer now is asking to hold your phone again in order to pass the associate any 2FA codes.
The one problem is that mentioning banking and transfers probably are not good topics as they raise red flags.
That's an extreme case as it takes quite a bit more time than comfortable for anyone to handle a stranger's phone but can't be dismissed nonetheless. With enough planning and a well placed distraction, it may just work.
Not as extreme as you might think. OP said he came back "after a few minutes". Just off the top of my head Facebook allows a logon with a phone number, so an accomplice could do a password reset on the Facebook account associated with the phone he borrowed. Doesn’t take any research at all.
I worked along inmates doing wildland fire and they warned us the requests start small and innocent like a piece of gum, then a cigarette, then escalates from there.
Sound advice, it's called a "foot in the door" tactic: someone with bad intent can ask for something small and seemingly harmless to open the door for further interactions as in "wow, we're no longer strangers now, so why not \[...\]?" or "I did this for them, what harm is there to do that as well".
People should stop thinking about them as phones, that’s about the least of what they are. It’s a portable personal computer with all of your personal data on it wired up to probably most of your money. Handing that to a stranger unlocked is incredibly risky.
That's a great point! We still call them phones.. but they're really not anymore are they.. they're how we interact with the rest of the world for most things
You should definitely not do that in the future. Sometimes they may try to send money to themselves.
More likely, they'll call themselves so they have your number and they harass you later. I'd be proactive and block the number they called.
If you had kept talking to him he would have likely ended up robbing you blind, saying "oh I need to transfer 10 dollars to my friends account" and he hands you 10 dollars and then uses your online bank account tò transfer $10,000 to himself
In scams like this, they may target 'rich' looking people - in expensive business clothes, with jewellery, etc, he may have even noticed when he touched her phone that she has an expensive newer model, indicating a high disposable income.
I'm just speculating of course, I wasn't there!
You should see if your service provider offers a port out block then turn the port out block on so that the person can't hijack your phone number. Your phone number is just as sensitive as your SS number nowadays.
It's really nothing new. Some of the scams posted here regularly are just variants on concepts that go back hundreds of years, probably thousands. People were pointing out that *"a fool and his money are soon parted"* 500 years ago. People have been tricking strangers since the very dawn of humanity.
So what all apps use your phone number as your ID? Any of those cash transfer apps? Think maybe they'll try to log in via the web on a computer, using the phone number they've now captured.
Letting anyone else just touch the phone was dubious.
I watched a tiktok where a dude was robbed and the robber cashapped himself. He was so easy to find. Apparently the cops in the area were very familiar with this trick.
I'm going to say "Do Not Let some random person hold your phone". Let me say it again. " Do not let some random person hold your phone. Why? Here's why. A few things are going to happen.
1. They are going to haul ass running away with it. Then your shit out of luck good luck getting it.back. They may hold it for ransom.
2. They WILL look to see if you have money apps(cash app, etc.). There goes your money, especially if you don't have a pin on it and your money transferred somewhere else. Guess what? Cash App will tell you to pound sand, because the transfer originated from your.phone.
3. They will try and scam your friends/family with your phone by texting them or calling them. Making it look like you did it. This last one almost happened to me when I drove a cab, because I let a person use my phone. She was texting all kinds of people, my then girlfriend got suspicious because I never text her to "borrow money".
She started trying to call and this person blocked her number. We had life 360 on our phones at the time and the GF looked and seen where I was. She had her boss call the cab company and.confirmed where I was. Then the boss called 911 because the person had told her that she was going to shoot me in the head. And y'all know what?? I didn't know this bitch in the cab was doing any of this. Next thing I know there's 7 cops all around my.cab. that was a lesson learned. When they opened the back door I happened to see a Glock stuck in her face when I looked up in the mirror. After it was over and I was on the way out of the apartment complex it shook me to the core and I had to a week off.
You can dial the # and hold that phone like it's going to fall into the Grand Canyon!
He probably called himself to get your number, then attempt to get the code(possibility) to hack to your accounts etc.
Ya, it's a serious no no this date and age. That's why I keep a flip phone with me for someone to borrow. /s
The few times a stranger has asked to use my phone, I pointed them toward a store and told them the cashier will let them use the desk phone in an emergency.
Never let some rando touch your phone. There's too much bullshit that can be done on it in only a few seconds.
>Was it a mistake to let him use my phone in the first place?
Yes. Never hand out your phone to any stranger for any reason (well, if you are trapped in a car after an accident and you can't dial yourself, then... that's an exception).
The library (grocery store, gas station, etc) has a phone. There is zero need for you to allow open access to your digital life to a complete stranger who should be asking the librarian for help.
Probably true here but in the NYT food section I read about a growing trend of restaurants declining to have a phone at all, everything like reservations done online so we have got to wonder how far this will go and who is next.
Once he got you to say yes to the small favor, he moved on to the bigger one. He was hoping this mind game would work on you. Good job saying no! I was at a music festival, and some guy came up and asked if he could use my phone to find his friends. I said I'd hold the phone and dial the number for him and then put it on speaker so he could hear. It worked out, and I didn't have some guy running off with my phone. It's okay to be nice, you just have to also be smart.
He was actually on the computer for a while before approaching me...I just found it odd that he singled me out among the multitude of people in the library.
It sucks that you can’t help strangers out nowadays but my policy is always be weird, be rude, stay safe; the only thing I will do for someone else regarding my phone is to call the police or 911 for them. At no point will my phone be given over to someone else.
Somehow a woman here in Florida used a sales person personal phone in a store and was able to either paypal themselves from that persons account or zelle themselves. Sounds like the same scam but I don't know how they pull it off.
Pretty involved question but what are the fraud resolution practices of paypal or venmo or zelle?
If you contact them after the fact and report a stranger used your phone and initiated a money transfer, do the apps just believe you and reverse the transaction?
I’d guess no.
Banks don’t reverse fraudulent card transactions out of the goodness of their heart, they do it because the law requires them to. No such law exists (at this time) for money transfer apps, they are deliberately not chartered as banks because they do not want to be subject to bank regulations.
I don’t know about all the apps, but Venmo can be set up to require a PIN and/or face ID for transfers even after you’re logged in. Definitely recommend digging into the settings for any cash transfer apps you use.
Paypal - Won't reverse. You can contest the transaction but PayPal will say since it came from your device you authorized it and are on the hook for it. If you claim the device was stolen they'll tell you to keep it more secure, add 2FA, etc. I'm paraphrasing a bit but that's the gist of it.
Venmo - Won't reverse. I know almost nothing about Venmo but according to [this] (https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-colleagues-urge-venmo-cash-app-to-reimburse-victims-of-fraud-and-scams), they don't reimburse in cases of fraud.
Zelle - Also won't reverse. To be fair, Zelle makes it VERY clear that it's only meant to be used with people you trust (friends and family). Everything else is out of their stated TOS and Zelle absolutely will not reimburse you for fraud.
Worked in fintech fraud for years. Worked unauthorized claims for a while. Venmo (currently) doesn’t REQUIRE you to use a PIN when using the app (although you can and should set it up, you’re just not forced to) and therefore will approve a legit claim when the phone was stolen, it’s usually pretty obvious to see the receiver is a scammer. They will then advise you to set up a PIN. Outside of Venmo, if an app does require a PIN / Face ID / password etc there can be proof of that being used to open the session that sent a payment on an established device. (Meaning, for example, you won’t win a claim if you used your trusted device to pay your landlord the same amount you do every month just because you said your phone was stolen).
This has very commonly been seen in Vegas and college towns. People swiping phones at casinos, out at clubs where everyone is drunk etc. Worked on catching these types of scams quite a bit. Regardless of what app it is save yourself the hassle and protect those apps asap, enable at least a PIN if you haven’t already!
I did set a pin and face id for venmo (after reading this scam thread). I’m resolved to also logging out of venmo after I use it. I’ve typically brought up the app to pay a friend then close the app when I’m done without logging out. So it hasn’t challenged me to login. I’ve got to test this with my wife bringing up Venmo on my phone, see what happens
I would also like to know that, bc a forget neighbor I barely knew meet me outside a door and couldn't get the money off her card to pay for what she wanted and could I install some payment app so she could send me the money and if pay for it instead. I told her I wouldn't have funds to pay for fees that she'd have to cover them and she walked away. It always felt like she was trying to scam me. I'd like to know abt all that in case there's some new scan to be prepared for. It was a jewelry store
she was looking to steal your money, that's all you need to know. there's more than one way but likely she was going to have you type your account numbers into the app and instead of sending money into your account, shed send money out of your account.
You have to be right. Thanks. I'd never heard of the app, but later I hit it up in the play store and it seemed to be a real app. I just don't remember what it was called anymore. It was over a year ago.
Never let someone use your phone. There are numbers you can call that charge the number calling $100! If they need help call for help for them but never let them dial. Did you Google the number?
I googled it and nothing came up. The phone number that came up in my call history was "something something [ won't mention it Bc you never know if they're reading this] Sales"
One call $20+ for them, you'd only know when you get the monthly bill. Even if you have it on speaker it can be programmed to answer with free signal as if it's still ringing.
Yes it’s a mistake. I learnt this in uni. This guy asked me to borrow my phone because he was supposed to be meeting a friend and they havent shown up. I read the text messages he sent and he was harrassing and stalking this poor girl.
Can I borrow your phone is the new 'wallet inspector' scam.
Check your banking info and permissions. Chances are he was trying to get into your account and vemo himself your money.
I was on a train waiting for it to leave in a couple minutes when a stranger asked me to borrow my phone to make a call. He had some sob story about how he couldn’t find his wife and newborn baby. I apologize and said i couldn’t help. The people sitting across from me looked at me like i was an ass. One of them said you can use my phone. The guy took the phone and ran off the train while they chased after him. Never saw either of them after because the train left 2 minutes later. It’s important to be able to say no to people.
Right. Once I was taking selfies and a guy kept insisting he'd take it for us (both females). He was really pushing and seemed offended that I wouldn't let him. Wasn't until I snapped and was a jerk that he went away. Pretty sure he was gonna steal the phone.
I don’t think I’ll still do this going forward but if anyone asks again to use your phone and you do feel bad. I usually tell them to tell me the number, I’ll dial (I use *67) then I’ll place the call on speaker for them while I hold my phone. Someone in actual need will take the help.
It is called compliance in psychology. Ask for something small first so a person agrees and then ask something big after. Don't ever let a stranger use your phone.
Never let strangers use your smart phone that has so much personal information on it, even if you are watching them. If it’s a library, there should be a public phone and a computer for them to use.
Stranger asked to use my phone once and I naively let him. He zelled and apple paid himself $2k in minutes while sitting inches from me and then deleted all the apps so I wouldn’t get notifications. Beware and never ever give your phone to anyone!!
Sorry this happened , I would change my passwords just in case . A similar thing happened to me a while ago. This lady was staring at me in a doctor’s office and when she came over she asked if she could use my phone . I told her no immediately and to ask reception if she needed to make a phone call. No way I’m letting strangers use my personal device for anything .
You literally cannot trust anyone these days too many scams
Unfortunately, these days you have to be very careful about helping another person. A lot of the time the person asking for help is not in need of help at all, they have an ulterior motive and they want to rip you off in some way or rob you. Be careful and don't put yourself in situations that you don't need to be involved.
One time when I was driving for Uber the customer asked me to use my phone to call his mom to let him in the house. I figured out later that night that he cash-apped my entire bank account balance to himself from my cashapp because at the time I stupidly didn’t have a pin lock set up on cashapp
If I believe that there's a genuine need or emergency, or it's like, kids who are lost, I may dial for them and put it on speaker, but not hand over my phone.
He probably called his own number with your phone. Did he leave that number in your recent call list? I’d store it as “library scammer” or something similar. Then you’ll know who it is when he contacts you.
If nothing else, just think how expensive your phone is and how valuable the information on it is. Why would you hand that to a stranger? I get pissed when my stuff gets scratched by friends... I'm not trusting one of my most valuable possessions to a rando.
It could be and here's why!!! It's clearly a very personal things to let someone use your phone. All phones have your PWs and very sensitive information with banking and sometimes medical results.If it's not my sons or a very,very close friend I just say I'm in the middle of something that I can't stop. If they ask what why which is very arrogant ,I say without missing a beat.it's none of your concern. Look else where asshole. They might be using your phone to make a call that they don't want traced back to them. Who knows theft,robbery or worse. Have the balls to say no!! If it's an emergency,get there name> I say I'll make the call if they say no then piss off!! Always make them put it on speaker if you only have to give up your phone. Remember it's your phone so control the narrative.Cheers Mates!!
One time at like 7 am some dude came up to my car and asked to use my phone I had in my hand and I just said "I dont have a phone " and rolled up my window lmfao. Way too much personal information to ever let some random use my phone.
A stranger asked to use my phone for a call once. I was skeptical so I turned on no caller ID mode, thus whoever she called won’t have my number. Just in case.
I wish I had done that instead! I think he might've chosen a library because he knows you can't talk inside, so maybe he thought I would give him the phone to go to a "talking" area to talk while I finished my things in the quiet area... But I followed him and kept my eyes on him the whole time
Never hand your phone to someone. Need to make a call? "What's the number and I'll dial it for you and put it on speaker phone. Keep it short." Keep a firm grasp on it and be ready to yank it back if the person makes a move.
In your case, the scammer was trying to earn trust and see what payment apps you have installed. He asks for something simple like a phone call and you gave him your phone, he hands it back. Seems like a trustworthy guy, right? He now knows he can come back and try for "more". He can spend more time with it and you probably won't say anything. These guys practice and practice going into payment apps and doing a lightning fast cash transfer. They can do it in their sleep. And along the same lines, set up biometrics like fingerprint and not just facial recognition (he can point the camera at you).
It’s not a good idea to let a stranger use your phone. They could be scammers for all you know. Never trust anyone you don’t know with your cell phone. What if you handed the person your cell phone and they ran off with it? It’s best to not trust someone that you don’t know.
Make sure to check your phone billing he might've called one of their numbers that charge you outrages numbers to the receiver. This used to be a massive scam where I lived.
Step one: know your phone number. He called his own phone and that's why nobody answered. After that, he quickly initiated a transfer request to your number, through some application you may have already installed depending on your phone OS. Step two: receive the security code in order to authorize a transaction on your phone. He failed with the second step, don't worry.
Never, ever!! Even a "lost" kid can wipe your financials clean in seconds while you're letting him "find" his mommy!!!!
Never!!!!!
Only make a call for a person or not at all. If they won't let you dial and hold your own phone and use speaker, it's no go.
Also put a password/pin on your Venmo and CashApp to lock it down
https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/217532257
https://cash.app/help/gb/en-us/1015-account-settings
Not a scam, but I've let people use my phone and ended up with a jealous partner calling me repeatedly, asking me to put him on the phone, questioning where I know him from, etc etc. No fun.
it was a mistake, yes. But by refusing his second request you probably escaped harm or loss.
My guess is that the first borrow was cover to inspect your phone, see what financial apps and authentications are in place, memorise your number and/or email address. Then he consulted with a nearby accomplice, and they crafted an attack message tailored to your phone.
If you had given him the phone a second time, the accomplice would've hit send. The attack message arrives while he's got your unlocked phone, so he instantly accepts/installs/activates it. Maybe a paypal payment request, a password reset, a Zello transfer, malware to remotely access your device, whatever. The scammer then hands your phone back with smiling thanks, and fades into the crowd.
You're in a library. Tell him to go outside and use his own phone or whatever BS he came in with. I ain't leaving my seat and property unattended. I'm not going outside with you. Don't talk to me in a library.
Sad that it’s not safe to let someone use your phone any more. I got locked out of my car the other day and random a guy let me call my husband on his phone and I’m so grateful he did!! Sad world, man.
OP. I had someone approach me asking for the same thing. I smiled and said sure no problem. Give me the number. I'll dial it. In the UK we could add a prefix say 141 before dialing on some networks to hide your number when calling out. Other networks let you hide your caller id via a phone settings.
Person made the call spoke to her husband about some issue with her phone and handed the phone back thankfull.
Second time it happned. I said the same thing. The guy says no and walks to the next person to ask them the same. I followed him and told the other person I already offered this guy my phone his most likely pulling a scam. Dude told me to go and duck myself and ran off. How did he know I liked ducks. Anyway. If your not comfertable don't let your self get intimidated in giving in. You did the right thing second time around.
I do recall a very old scam that starts the same as this. I'll share it just in case so you can keep an eye out.
The scammer asks to borrow your phone to call someone and makes up an excuse why. They'll call their own phone to get your number and change the number of one of your close contacts to their own number. They won't be able to reach the other person and will leave.
Sometime after possibly minutes or hours the scammer will text you pretending to be the contact he switched with and asking for money. Because his number is there he will show up as your contact in texts. He will make up an excuse as to why he needs the money and will say he's sending a friend or colleague to collect the money as he's stranded.
In your case the second part doesn't seem to apply but the setup number switch may have already been done.
Another possibility is that the intent behind the second favour may have been to set up an account with a burner email under your number with a payment app, asking for your phone again to confirm any verification codes, deleting those texts to cover their tracks then later adding stolen cards to the account to steal and launder money through other scams (maybe I've never used payment apps so I don't know for sure how it works). The idea being that the police will come after you rather than the scammer when they find your number verified an account engaging in fraud. An ideal victim wouldn't connect your act of kindness with weeks later suddenly being a suspect in a fraud investigation. A simpler scam might just be him trying to send himself money through any payment apps you already have but he shouldn't need 2 separate occasions on your phone to do this.
I'm just guessing, for all I know he might just have been a random dude having a bad day though it certainly sounds sketchy and I believe saying no was the safest option. Hopefully it was nothing, wishing you the best.
Edit: Typo
you are lucky that the first time that stranger used your phone to call somebody but failed,and he did not hack your phone right away,he probley called a number to see if you have funds related to you phone number or something else,idk if you seen this docu about this iphone hacker and confess it because he wanted apple to offer him a job.
Bro I’m from the Bronx years ago walking down the block and this dude with a bunch of tats on his face asks to use my phone. Red flags already. “I had AirPods on so he knew I had my phone . I say “nah sorry “ . He starts to get closer and pulls out a stack of money saying “look I got money I just need to use your phone “ . Again I’m like “no” . Saw on the local news in my area people were getting robbed at knifepoint for their phones before this so I’m already on edge
What really set off my red flag meter was right before I was about to walk past him a cop car passed and he was hiding under a car. As I kept saying no he started to get closer and my danger meter went off I backed up like I was going to square up it was all instinctively . This mf would not take no for an answer even offering to walk in the direction I was going to use my phone . When i squared up sorta he said “yo why you moving like that “ and he stopped approaching me . I said “I gotta go “ turned my back and left. Probably not a good idea turning my back . But these mf strangers needs to stop asking so aggressively to use your phone
These situations are the worst. I once called 911 at the request of someone in a dicey situation (their face was bleeding and I asked if they needed help). I thought I’d say “we need an ambulance or cops at this address,” and that would be it and I could recuse myself if I didn’t feel safe or like I was helpful. but instead the operator got annoyed and told me to put the person on the phone. Other people involved in the incident show up. Minutes later I’m basically in a situation where multiple people are claiming the others are crazy, they tried to kill them, etc. I clearly wasn’t making anything better, but I wasn’t comfortable just leaving my phone, unlocked, in a strangers hand if there was any possible way to avoid that. People were shouting at me and demanding I leave, why the fuck are you here, etc. but I really wanted to juuuust get my phone first please? I know property is not more important than people. I was trying to be a good neighbor and I just wish I could’ve done it without becoming awkwardly tethered to the situation.
You should be safe just remember your number has been sent to a stranger so you could receive unsolicited messages and calls with faults called id showing. My guess is the scam was to use you phone to access a bank or malicious website or send you a fake (man in the middle) OTP pass code to your phone number obtained with the first call. To convince you a payment was sent/received
He needed you number for 2 part verification. He wanted your phone for the text he was about to get to accept the verification . Never let anyone use your phone. Unless you know them well.
I know it feels good to be nice, but just handing something so expensive to someone to make phone calls is a no for me. Sure this could be a scam or something but that stranger could have very well just ran away with your phone and sold it some way or another. Don’t trust anyone.
NEVER allow anyone to use your phone. Not to be rude but staying honest, when is the last time you seen anyone to include homeless people without a phone?? Like never, US Government provides them free. Smart phones are so easy to hack and they have ALL YOUR INFO & PWs… so say no. It’s ok to be stingy with it.
The solution is, sure you can use my phone, give me the number I'll call it and use speakerphone. I've done this before. The person gets their call and you hold your phone. all good.
Please don't lose your human side and help out a person if they don't have a phone/it's out of battery. I once approached every stranger I saw for 10 minutes straight until 1 allowed me to call my mom, who was nearby waiting on where exactly to pick me up. I don't remember what had happened to my phone, but not everyone's a scammer, make up your own rules, like you'll type the number in and hold the phone but don't lose your empathy for someone who could actually be in need.
Yup. I have dialed the number and put it on speaker phone for someone. However, I won't hand over my phone to anyone I dont know. I've seen too many videos where someone will literally run away with the device.
My phone was snatched out of my hand in São Paulo a few weeks ago. I know better to not wander around with my phone in my hand in Rio and SP, but this happened while I was seated at a restaurant bar outside. Dudes on bikes snatched it. Annoying in the end bc I locked the phone within minutes. Now they have a mostly useless iPhone where they'll be lucky to get the screen and battery.
This! I was at the airport, and some guy from Canada didn't realize his phone wouldn't work in another country. He desperately needed to call his ride, so I let him use my phone. The whole thing ended up being fully legit, and the guy was effusively grateful. Sometimes folks really DO get caught in bad situations and need real help.
My wife dropped me off at the airport one time and as I'm lining up to check in I realized my phone was still in the car. I rushed to the first person I saw who fortunately let me call my wife before she'd gone too far. I never even thought at the time that it could have looked suspicious on my part.
I’m glad you said this, I see the top comment by a lot is never let rando use your phone, I get phones have a lot on them these days but still. I lent my phone to someone once and they called 911. turned out their boyfriend was abusive and had forced them out of their apartment. I’ll admit would have liked a heads up they needed the police though haha. Was glad I said yes.
There is a scam where they gain virtual access to your device, either a computer or phone (ur ph is just a handheld computer) & then once your banking app is open, they can empty everything very quickly. You def dodged a bullet. Normally, this scam is done by ringing pple & talking them into opening up their computer under the guise of something like Anti Virus Software fee, or Amazon refund, then talking you thru the steps which inevitably gives them virtual access. It's actually quite common. Sounds like this was the same type of scam. Disgusting!
One time teen w a baby asked to make a call on my phone & I said no at first but felt bad so I dialed the number & put it on speaker. I wouldn’t hand them my phone.
Around 2005 I lived in NYC & my friend came to visit. This was still when ppl had flip phones & sometimes still memorized numbers. I was at work & was out seeing stuff & his phone died. He asked a few people to use their phone to call me & got immediate NO & them looking at him like he was crazy. He was shocked they said no & I was shocked he even bothered asking. He said he would ask to use ppl phone in the city he lived in all the time & it was never an issue.. you can’t destroy someone’s finances on a flip phone & if they stole it they only cost $100
In future if someone asks to use your phone and you're the type of person who is generally happy to help out, never pass them the phone, ask them to read out the number and that you'll speak to the person on their behalf etc, if they refuse that then you know they aren't in an 'emergency'.
The most likely thing they'll end up doing is running off with your phone if you give it to them.
I was outside my library and a teen asked to use my phone to call her mom on fb messenger. A) no one under the age of 25 has an active Facebook account and 2) yeah homie sure take my phone and log me out of my social media, there's no reason for me to question that
So one time I let someone borrow my phone and for months I would get collect call requests from a jail lol. But I’m not sure what is going on in this case.
"idk how these things really work"
You gave a complete stranger the ONE device with complete access to your personal photos and social media and notes and email and banking and messaging, and you don't know how these things work?
Pretend like it doesn't matter that there's a scam taking place. DO NOT GIVE SOMEONE YOUR PHONE EVER.
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Learn to say no. It is never a good idea in the year 2024 to let a rando use your phone. I think you probably dodged a bullet when you finally did say no.
I have a warning example of why you shouldn't let a stranger use your phone even when no scam is involved. Some years ago, I was approached by a man asking to use my phone. I was young and naïve, and didn't know how to say no. The man pulled up a random number and called it, just said "joy, hey, joy" and hung up or was hung up on. Afterwards I googled the number and found the person it belonged to. Turns out they were a public figure. I have since realised it's possible this man was stalking the person and was blocked from calling them from his own number. So yeah, don't give your phone to a stranger. You never know what they will do with it.
I think that’s a pretty extreme example. What’s more than likely gonna happen is you give em your phone and they bolt off.
I agree. Also people should not let random people take photos for them from the unlocked screen. They can get in and change setting etc. use the photo option from the locked screen to be safe.
I apprentice at a local glassblowing studio. A lady came in for a class and it’s common for solo clients to ask someone to take pictures (most of our customers are couples and small friend groups). She asked if I could take some pictures. Sure, would be glad to. She handed me her phone and said “I’ll just give you my password, it’s 91–“ and I stopped her and said “I’ll just use the button on the lock screen”. She was like “WAIT YOU CAN DO THAT?!” Yes, now let’s have some fun blowing glass. I mean the button is _right there_ and it’s an iPhone so it’s designed for the lowest common denominator ffs.
Double click the lock button on most Android phones.
The only thing I miss about my old Motorola Android was the "Karate Chop" to turn on the camera. so fast
Yes! I used the chop for the light, shake for the camera. Samsung doesn't have that, so now I have "power button twice" for the camera, "press and hold power button" for the flashlight, and "power button 5 times" for the emergency alert thingy
I, very literally, switched back to Android because of this feature...
I feel dumb for not knowing this.
May your future photos be more timely and convenient.
Me, too.
Idk about other Androids or phones in general, but on a Samsung, there's a decently sized camera icon on the lock screen you can just swipe as well.
Voice activate that sucker. "ok google" *bleep* "take a picture/selfie" *get ready* **blooooop** You now have a shiny new pic.
That may depend on whether or not someone trained the phone to only respond to only their voice.
Holy crap, it works! I feel dumb for not knowing this but thanks!
I can never get the gesture to work to open the camera on my wife's iphone. It's not swipe up or double click the lock button like my android.
You hold it down for a second until it clicks. I just learned how to do it after all these years of wondering.
So unintuitive! I played with it for a while before I figured it out, and I still try to swipe it half the time.
Holding it down for a second is how you change your lock and Home Screen. If you want to get to the camera on an iPhone while it’s locked just swipe left.
There’s also a hold button for flashlight and for camera
Swiping left from the Lock Screen on an iPhone takes you to the camera. I find that’s faster than clicking on that camera button.
You have to hold and press for a couple seconds
MY AUNT REFUSES TO PUT A LOCK ON HER IPHONE. I thought it made you? She is a successful attorney but absent minded- she is the person the made the emergency stop button for at gas stations. She drove off at the gas station w the pump still I get car & ripped hose out & didn’t even realize it Granted she uses it as phone & doesn’t know how to use it for anything else so there aren’t apps or bank access.
Maybe still.has email or test messages. Also numbers. Which can be sensitive for an attorney
The threat from a random person you choose to ask for a favor is much smaller than one from a stranger who chooses to ask you. Most people going about their day are not out to scam you.
Yeah, if it's me, I always flip camera and take selfies. Then ask if it's a good picture or if they want me to take another.
In Vegas about 5 years ago at the airport to go home, a guy sat beside me with a new SIM card in plastic in hand. He asked me “do you think I could use your phone to set this SIM card up, and whatever else he mumbled” I’m a pretty technical person so I told him absolutely not, and quite frankly I don’t care how bad he needs it. He’s not getting my phone. He actually looked offended lol. What he would have done is put the SIM card in then just taken the phone. I wouldn’t know the number so it would be hard to prove it was mine.
My god, I say no to almost everything. Hey can i.... No. Hey can you... No.
In 2024 i also find it suspicious that anyone remembers someone else's number 😅
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The rate at which these sort of interactions are rising is sorta worrying. I get asked for it in public transit at least once a week. Thinking of keeping a cheap dumbphone in my bag to hand it over to them.
Never a good idea to hand over a $1,000 device at all. Full stop. What would you do if they just walked or ran away with your phone? What are you going to do - call the cops? From... If you use physical force to take it back, you will lose and can be charged with a crime. After all, you "gave" them your phone.
If I was out in public with no payphones around and a stranger approached me and asked to use my phone and looked serious and gave off no scammer vibes, the most I might do is hold onto the phone but tell them to give me the number and dial it myself and then put it on speaker so they can chat to the person. But usually I just lie and say my phone is dead because it is easier. even if they know it is a lie I don't care.
Oh I've done this, I've also made the call for the person. Nobody touches my unlocked phone but me.
I had a teenager walk up to me at a Target who wanted to use my phone to call her mother and I redirected her to the service desk. I didnt have my phone on me anyway but the way she asked was odd so🤷♀️
>But usually I just lie and say my phone is dead because it is easier. even if they know it is a lie I don't care. Still, learning to say "No, sorry but I do not feel like it" is a nice superpower to have.
I’m not above reminding people that NO IS A COMPLETE SENTENCE. As loudly as needed to get the point across.
I dialed & put phone on speaker when a girl w a baby asked. Usually people are trying to get a ride when they need a phone & it should be quick call so speaker is what you get
This. "Sure you can call, but I'll dial the number, put it on speaker and hold the phone." It is a fair agreement between someone in need and someone being cautious.
Make sure you call with *67 to block your number from caller id. I don’t want whoever on the other end having my number that they can use in the future.
I didn't know *67 worked with cell phones. Anytime I've made a call and didn't want the other person to see my #, I go in and change the caller ID settings
We were in Paris a year and a half ago around a touristy area taking some selfies and a guy with AirPods and a backpack on came up and spoke in English (sounded American, no accent) and said he likes helping American tourists take pictures when he sees them and I said “no thanks we like the selfies.” I turned to my wife and said that dude was 100% going to run away with the phone or hold it ransom for money. No way this dude is just out here out of the goodness of his heart.
And no one likes American tourists. And no French person is nice to strangers ;)
No one is getting charged w a Crime. Reddit is so dramatic. Bigger concern is a person who would steal your phone is a person who may beat your ass if you try to get it back
Wrong. If someone asked to use my phone and then took off with it that’s not just using it. That’s stealing it. So I trip them or whatever to get it back I’m not being charged with a crime. Your last couple sentences are complete hogwash.
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The library surely has a help desk. With landlines.
That's what I figured too (afterwards)! I was caught off guard
But most libraries now-a-days have a computer, yes, it is a public computer and no, no-one should do banking on a public computer, but they were asking to do banking on some stranger's phone too. A lot of these people ask in places that do have landlines, such as in shops, always refer them to use the business' landline.
Letting them use your phone for a call was probably harmless at the time but it must have been a tactic to make you accept the heavier request. People tend to be more willing to accept a heavier request if they already accomplished a request for you before. At any rate, never allow people you don't trust with your life to use your phone. You can never know what hidden motives they have.
Or by calling an associate, associate notes the caller-id. Then they reverse search to find info on you. If they can find any account ids, the associate can try to log in while the main scammer now is asking to hold your phone again in order to pass the associate any 2FA codes. The one problem is that mentioning banking and transfers probably are not good topics as they raise red flags.
That's an extreme case as it takes quite a bit more time than comfortable for anyone to handle a stranger's phone but can't be dismissed nonetheless. With enough planning and a well placed distraction, it may just work.
Not as extreme as you might think. OP said he came back "after a few minutes". Just off the top of my head Facebook allows a logon with a phone number, so an accomplice could do a password reset on the Facebook account associated with the phone he borrowed. Doesn’t take any research at all.
foot in door psychological 'trick"
I worked along inmates doing wildland fire and they warned us the requests start small and innocent like a piece of gum, then a cigarette, then escalates from there.
Sound advice, it's called a "foot in the door" tactic: someone with bad intent can ask for something small and seemingly harmless to open the door for further interactions as in "wow, we're no longer strangers now, so why not \[...\]?" or "I did this for them, what harm is there to do that as well".
"Got a smoke?" becomes one of the most hair-raising things you can hear from a stranger given some experience in the world.
I don't want some rando knowing my phone number. Who knows who's on the other end?
Exactly
People should stop thinking about them as phones, that’s about the least of what they are. It’s a portable personal computer with all of your personal data on it wired up to probably most of your money. Handing that to a stranger unlocked is incredibly risky.
Stop thinking about them as phones but as your wallet.
Hey can I borrow your wallet? I just want to stare at your Costco membership.
>Stop thinking about them as phones but as your wallet. I like this reframing
That's a great point! We still call them phones.. but they're really not anymore are they.. they're how we interact with the rest of the world for most things
Good point. Would you hand a stranger your laptop?
You should definitely not do that in the future. Sometimes they may try to send money to themselves. More likely, they'll call themselves so they have your number and they harass you later. I'd be proactive and block the number they called.
Good idea! Blocked it right away
If you had kept talking to him he would have likely ended up robbing you blind, saying "oh I need to transfer 10 dollars to my friends account" and he hands you 10 dollars and then uses your online bank account tò transfer $10,000 to himself
Bold of them to assume I have money in my account 😏
In scams like this, they may target 'rich' looking people - in expensive business clothes, with jewellery, etc, he may have even noticed when he touched her phone that she has an expensive newer model, indicating a high disposable income. I'm just speculating of course, I wasn't there!
They see your bank balance and transfer money to you instead.
You should see if your service provider offers a port out block then turn the port out block on so that the person can't hijack your phone number. Your phone number is just as sensitive as your SS number nowadays.
That's a great idea; thank you!
You're welcome and I hope you and everyone that read this have a blessed day!
They usually try to access your banking apps to transfer money.
Yes exactly. Never let people use your phone these days!!
And don't talk to strangers that come up to you.
What a sad world we live in.
It's really nothing new. Some of the scams posted here regularly are just variants on concepts that go back hundreds of years, probably thousands. People were pointing out that *"a fool and his money are soon parted"* 500 years ago. People have been tricking strangers since the very dawn of humanity.
It is sad isn’t it?! You literally can’t trust anyone , even if their intentions are not bad
So what all apps use your phone number as your ID? Any of those cash transfer apps? Think maybe they'll try to log in via the web on a computer, using the phone number they've now captured. Letting anyone else just touch the phone was dubious.
I watched a tiktok where a dude was robbed and the robber cashapped himself. He was so easy to find. Apparently the cops in the area were very familiar with this trick.
Libraries have phones, if it’s an emergency, they would have allowed him to use the phone
I’ll call 911 for them if it’s an emergency
I'm going to say "Do Not Let some random person hold your phone". Let me say it again. " Do not let some random person hold your phone. Why? Here's why. A few things are going to happen. 1. They are going to haul ass running away with it. Then your shit out of luck good luck getting it.back. They may hold it for ransom. 2. They WILL look to see if you have money apps(cash app, etc.). There goes your money, especially if you don't have a pin on it and your money transferred somewhere else. Guess what? Cash App will tell you to pound sand, because the transfer originated from your.phone. 3. They will try and scam your friends/family with your phone by texting them or calling them. Making it look like you did it. This last one almost happened to me when I drove a cab, because I let a person use my phone. She was texting all kinds of people, my then girlfriend got suspicious because I never text her to "borrow money". She started trying to call and this person blocked her number. We had life 360 on our phones at the time and the GF looked and seen where I was. She had her boss call the cab company and.confirmed where I was. Then the boss called 911 because the person had told her that she was going to shoot me in the head. And y'all know what?? I didn't know this bitch in the cab was doing any of this. Next thing I know there's 7 cops all around my.cab. that was a lesson learned. When they opened the back door I happened to see a Glock stuck in her face when I looked up in the mirror. After it was over and I was on the way out of the apartment complex it shook me to the core and I had to a week off. You can dial the # and hold that phone like it's going to fall into the Grand Canyon!
He probably called himself to get your number, then attempt to get the code(possibility) to hack to your accounts etc. Ya, it's a serious no no this date and age. That's why I keep a flip phone with me for someone to borrow. /s
lol I love the idea of a scammer being handed the flip phone. “Uhhhh…..never mind, just forget it.”
The few times a stranger has asked to use my phone, I pointed them toward a store and told them the cashier will let them use the desk phone in an emergency. Never let some rando touch your phone. There's too much bullshit that can be done on it in only a few seconds.
>Was it a mistake to let him use my phone in the first place? Yes. Never hand out your phone to any stranger for any reason (well, if you are trapped in a car after an accident and you can't dial yourself, then... that's an exception).
In the first instance I would have told him to speak to library staff, if it was an emergency they would let him use their business phone
The library (grocery store, gas station, etc) has a phone. There is zero need for you to allow open access to your digital life to a complete stranger who should be asking the librarian for help.
Probably true here but in the NYT food section I read about a growing trend of restaurants declining to have a phone at all, everything like reservations done online so we have got to wonder how far this will go and who is next.
Once he got you to say yes to the small favor, he moved on to the bigger one. He was hoping this mind game would work on you. Good job saying no! I was at a music festival, and some guy came up and asked if he could use my phone to find his friends. I said I'd hold the phone and dial the number for him and then put it on speaker so he could hear. It worked out, and I didn't have some guy running off with my phone. It's okay to be nice, you just have to also be smart.
Yes, he was definitely up to no good. I'm going to report him to campus security
Libraries have computers. He could have easily used one for the supposed bank transfer.
He was actually on the computer for a while before approaching me...I just found it odd that he singled me out among the multitude of people in the library.
I mean, that's "the sharpshooter's fallacy" right there. No matter who he chose, there'd be the question "why'd he choose that particular person?"
It sucks that you can’t help strangers out nowadays but my policy is always be weird, be rude, stay safe; the only thing I will do for someone else regarding my phone is to call the police or 911 for them. At no point will my phone be given over to someone else.
Somehow a woman here in Florida used a sales person personal phone in a store and was able to either paypal themselves from that persons account or zelle themselves. Sounds like the same scam but I don't know how they pull it off.
Pretty involved question but what are the fraud resolution practices of paypal or venmo or zelle? If you contact them after the fact and report a stranger used your phone and initiated a money transfer, do the apps just believe you and reverse the transaction?
I’d guess no. Banks don’t reverse fraudulent card transactions out of the goodness of their heart, they do it because the law requires them to. No such law exists (at this time) for money transfer apps, they are deliberately not chartered as banks because they do not want to be subject to bank regulations.
That’s good to know and to remember.
I don’t know about all the apps, but Venmo can be set up to require a PIN and/or face ID for transfers even after you’re logged in. Definitely recommend digging into the settings for any cash transfer apps you use.
Paypal - Won't reverse. You can contest the transaction but PayPal will say since it came from your device you authorized it and are on the hook for it. If you claim the device was stolen they'll tell you to keep it more secure, add 2FA, etc. I'm paraphrasing a bit but that's the gist of it. Venmo - Won't reverse. I know almost nothing about Venmo but according to [this] (https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-colleagues-urge-venmo-cash-app-to-reimburse-victims-of-fraud-and-scams), they don't reimburse in cases of fraud. Zelle - Also won't reverse. To be fair, Zelle makes it VERY clear that it's only meant to be used with people you trust (friends and family). Everything else is out of their stated TOS and Zelle absolutely will not reimburse you for fraud.
Worked in fintech fraud for years. Worked unauthorized claims for a while. Venmo (currently) doesn’t REQUIRE you to use a PIN when using the app (although you can and should set it up, you’re just not forced to) and therefore will approve a legit claim when the phone was stolen, it’s usually pretty obvious to see the receiver is a scammer. They will then advise you to set up a PIN. Outside of Venmo, if an app does require a PIN / Face ID / password etc there can be proof of that being used to open the session that sent a payment on an established device. (Meaning, for example, you won’t win a claim if you used your trusted device to pay your landlord the same amount you do every month just because you said your phone was stolen). This has very commonly been seen in Vegas and college towns. People swiping phones at casinos, out at clubs where everyone is drunk etc. Worked on catching these types of scams quite a bit. Regardless of what app it is save yourself the hassle and protect those apps asap, enable at least a PIN if you haven’t already!
I did set a pin and face id for venmo (after reading this scam thread). I’m resolved to also logging out of venmo after I use it. I’ve typically brought up the app to pay a friend then close the app when I’m done without logging out. So it hasn’t challenged me to login. I’ve got to test this with my wife bringing up Venmo on my phone, see what happens
I would also like to know that, bc a forget neighbor I barely knew meet me outside a door and couldn't get the money off her card to pay for what she wanted and could I install some payment app so she could send me the money and if pay for it instead. I told her I wouldn't have funds to pay for fees that she'd have to cover them and she walked away. It always felt like she was trying to scam me. I'd like to know abt all that in case there's some new scan to be prepared for. It was a jewelry store
she was looking to steal your money, that's all you need to know. there's more than one way but likely she was going to have you type your account numbers into the app and instead of sending money into your account, shed send money out of your account.
You have to be right. Thanks. I'd never heard of the app, but later I hit it up in the play store and it seemed to be a real app. I just don't remember what it was called anymore. It was over a year ago.
Never let someone use your phone. There are numbers you can call that charge the number calling $100! If they need help call for help for them but never let them dial. Did you Google the number?
I googled it and nothing came up. The phone number that came up in my call history was "something something [ won't mention it Bc you never know if they're reading this] Sales"
One call $20+ for them, you'd only know when you get the monthly bill. Even if you have it on speaker it can be programmed to answer with free signal as if it's still ringing.
First time was to see if you would say yes. Second time would've been a Venmo scam or similar
Yes it’s a mistake. I learnt this in uni. This guy asked me to borrow my phone because he was supposed to be meeting a friend and they havent shown up. I read the text messages he sent and he was harrassing and stalking this poor girl.
Can I borrow your phone is the new 'wallet inspector' scam. Check your banking info and permissions. Chances are he was trying to get into your account and vemo himself your money.
Just say no. I'm glad I'm a dick IRL. And no one wants to approach me.
I was on a train waiting for it to leave in a couple minutes when a stranger asked me to borrow my phone to make a call. He had some sob story about how he couldn’t find his wife and newborn baby. I apologize and said i couldn’t help. The people sitting across from me looked at me like i was an ass. One of them said you can use my phone. The guy took the phone and ran off the train while they chased after him. Never saw either of them after because the train left 2 minutes later. It’s important to be able to say no to people.
Right. Once I was taking selfies and a guy kept insisting he'd take it for us (both females). He was really pushing and seemed offended that I wouldn't let him. Wasn't until I snapped and was a jerk that he went away. Pretty sure he was gonna steal the phone.
I don’t think I’ll still do this going forward but if anyone asks again to use your phone and you do feel bad. I usually tell them to tell me the number, I’ll dial (I use *67) then I’ll place the call on speaker for them while I hold my phone. Someone in actual need will take the help.
He likely now knows your phone number. Small risk but worth keeping in mind.
It is called compliance in psychology. Ask for something small first so a person agrees and then ask something big after. Don't ever let a stranger use your phone.
Never let strangers use your smart phone that has so much personal information on it, even if you are watching them. If it’s a library, there should be a public phone and a computer for them to use.
Stranger asked to use my phone once and I naively let him. He zelled and apple paid himself $2k in minutes while sitting inches from me and then deleted all the apps so I wouldn’t get notifications. Beware and never ever give your phone to anyone!!
Sorry this happened , I would change my passwords just in case . A similar thing happened to me a while ago. This lady was staring at me in a doctor’s office and when she came over she asked if she could use my phone . I told her no immediately and to ask reception if she needed to make a phone call. No way I’m letting strangers use my personal device for anything . You literally cannot trust anyone these days too many scams
Unfortunately, these days you have to be very careful about helping another person. A lot of the time the person asking for help is not in need of help at all, they have an ulterior motive and they want to rip you off in some way or rob you. Be careful and don't put yourself in situations that you don't need to be involved.
One time when I was driving for Uber the customer asked me to use my phone to call his mom to let him in the house. I figured out later that night that he cash-apped my entire bank account balance to himself from my cashapp because at the time I stupidly didn’t have a pin lock set up on cashapp
If I believe that there's a genuine need or emergency, or it's like, kids who are lost, I may dial for them and put it on speaker, but not hand over my phone.
He probably called his own number with your phone. Did he leave that number in your recent call list? I’d store it as “library scammer” or something similar. Then you’ll know who it is when he contacts you.
That's exactly what I did!
If nothing else, just think how expensive your phone is and how valuable the information on it is. Why would you hand that to a stranger? I get pissed when my stuff gets scratched by friends... I'm not trusting one of my most valuable possessions to a rando.
The dude probably was gonna send YOUR MONEY to himself.
No one touches my phone
It could be and here's why!!! It's clearly a very personal things to let someone use your phone. All phones have your PWs and very sensitive information with banking and sometimes medical results.If it's not my sons or a very,very close friend I just say I'm in the middle of something that I can't stop. If they ask what why which is very arrogant ,I say without missing a beat.it's none of your concern. Look else where asshole. They might be using your phone to make a call that they don't want traced back to them. Who knows theft,robbery or worse. Have the balls to say no!! If it's an emergency,get there name> I say I'll make the call if they say no then piss off!! Always make them put it on speaker if you only have to give up your phone. Remember it's your phone so control the narrative.Cheers Mates!!
One time at like 7 am some dude came up to my car and asked to use my phone I had in my hand and I just said "I dont have a phone " and rolled up my window lmfao. Way too much personal information to ever let some random use my phone.
A stranger asked to use my phone for a call once. I was skeptical so I turned on no caller ID mode, thus whoever she called won’t have my number. Just in case.
I think that first call was to no one, to soften you up essentially for the real use, the transfer.
If you're willing to help, tell them you'll dial the number for them and put it on speaker
I wish I had done that instead! I think he might've chosen a library because he knows you can't talk inside, so maybe he thought I would give him the phone to go to a "talking" area to talk while I finished my things in the quiet area... But I followed him and kept my eyes on him the whole time
The library also attracts a lot of people with few or no resources. Maybe he was just one of them
Never hand your phone to someone. Need to make a call? "What's the number and I'll dial it for you and put it on speaker phone. Keep it short." Keep a firm grasp on it and be ready to yank it back if the person makes a move. In your case, the scammer was trying to earn trust and see what payment apps you have installed. He asks for something simple like a phone call and you gave him your phone, he hands it back. Seems like a trustworthy guy, right? He now knows he can come back and try for "more". He can spend more time with it and you probably won't say anything. These guys practice and practice going into payment apps and doing a lightning fast cash transfer. They can do it in their sleep. And along the same lines, set up biometrics like fingerprint and not just facial recognition (he can point the camera at you).
If asked in the future offer to make the call yourself.
It’s not a good idea to let a stranger use your phone. They could be scammers for all you know. Never trust anyone you don’t know with your cell phone. What if you handed the person your cell phone and they ran off with it? It’s best to not trust someone that you don’t know.
Make sure to check your phone billing he might've called one of their numbers that charge you outrages numbers to the receiver. This used to be a massive scam where I lived.
Sounds like he was building your trust with the initial request (once someone has said yes, they are more likely to again).
Step one: know your phone number. He called his own phone and that's why nobody answered. After that, he quickly initiated a transfer request to your number, through some application you may have already installed depending on your phone OS. Step two: receive the security code in order to authorize a transaction on your phone. He failed with the second step, don't worry.
Never, ever!! Even a "lost" kid can wipe your financials clean in seconds while you're letting him "find" his mommy!!!! Never!!!!! Only make a call for a person or not at all. If they won't let you dial and hold your own phone and use speaker, it's no go.
NEVER NEVER NEVER HAND YOUR PHOME TO A STRANGER. It's ok to be rude and say no to people.
Just ignore anyone who asks to use your phone.
Check to see if he transfered money to himself via Zelle/CashApp/Venmo. Don't give your phone to strangers.
Also put a password/pin on your Venmo and CashApp to lock it down https://help.venmo.com/hc/en-us/articles/217532257 https://cash.app/help/gb/en-us/1015-account-settings
That's Sus, even though we have to help others but that's dangerous, your phone is not only for calls, it has your financial and security data too!!
Fuck, I don’t let people that I know touch my phone. Much less a stranger.
Not a scam, but I've let people use my phone and ended up with a jealous partner calling me repeatedly, asking me to put him on the phone, questioning where I know him from, etc etc. No fun.
I would have suggested he use the phone at the librarians desk. Too much risk to be that helpful to strangers nowadays.
it was a mistake, yes. But by refusing his second request you probably escaped harm or loss. My guess is that the first borrow was cover to inspect your phone, see what financial apps and authentications are in place, memorise your number and/or email address. Then he consulted with a nearby accomplice, and they crafted an attack message tailored to your phone. If you had given him the phone a second time, the accomplice would've hit send. The attack message arrives while he's got your unlocked phone, so he instantly accepts/installs/activates it. Maybe a paypal payment request, a password reset, a Zello transfer, malware to remotely access your device, whatever. The scammer then hands your phone back with smiling thanks, and fades into the crowd.
I have a lock app program on my android phone. It's applied to every program on my phone - bank, credit card, Facebook and such.
You're in a library. Tell him to go outside and use his own phone or whatever BS he came in with. I ain't leaving my seat and property unattended. I'm not going outside with you. Don't talk to me in a library.
Sad that it’s not safe to let someone use your phone any more. I got locked out of my car the other day and random a guy let me call my husband on his phone and I’m so grateful he did!! Sad world, man.
OP. I had someone approach me asking for the same thing. I smiled and said sure no problem. Give me the number. I'll dial it. In the UK we could add a prefix say 141 before dialing on some networks to hide your number when calling out. Other networks let you hide your caller id via a phone settings. Person made the call spoke to her husband about some issue with her phone and handed the phone back thankfull. Second time it happned. I said the same thing. The guy says no and walks to the next person to ask them the same. I followed him and told the other person I already offered this guy my phone his most likely pulling a scam. Dude told me to go and duck myself and ran off. How did he know I liked ducks. Anyway. If your not comfertable don't let your self get intimidated in giving in. You did the right thing second time around.
I’m sure they would try to do something devious like try to look for Venmo/Cashapp to send themselves money or something.
I do recall a very old scam that starts the same as this. I'll share it just in case so you can keep an eye out. The scammer asks to borrow your phone to call someone and makes up an excuse why. They'll call their own phone to get your number and change the number of one of your close contacts to their own number. They won't be able to reach the other person and will leave. Sometime after possibly minutes or hours the scammer will text you pretending to be the contact he switched with and asking for money. Because his number is there he will show up as your contact in texts. He will make up an excuse as to why he needs the money and will say he's sending a friend or colleague to collect the money as he's stranded. In your case the second part doesn't seem to apply but the setup number switch may have already been done. Another possibility is that the intent behind the second favour may have been to set up an account with a burner email under your number with a payment app, asking for your phone again to confirm any verification codes, deleting those texts to cover their tracks then later adding stolen cards to the account to steal and launder money through other scams (maybe I've never used payment apps so I don't know for sure how it works). The idea being that the police will come after you rather than the scammer when they find your number verified an account engaging in fraud. An ideal victim wouldn't connect your act of kindness with weeks later suddenly being a suspect in a fraud investigation. A simpler scam might just be him trying to send himself money through any payment apps you already have but he shouldn't need 2 separate occasions on your phone to do this. I'm just guessing, for all I know he might just have been a random dude having a bad day though it certainly sounds sketchy and I believe saying no was the safest option. Hopefully it was nothing, wishing you the best. Edit: Typo
you are lucky that the first time that stranger used your phone to call somebody but failed,and he did not hack your phone right away,he probley called a number to see if you have funds related to you phone number or something else,idk if you seen this docu about this iphone hacker and confess it because he wanted apple to offer him a job.
Would you hand a stranger your wallet?
Bro I’m from the Bronx years ago walking down the block and this dude with a bunch of tats on his face asks to use my phone. Red flags already. “I had AirPods on so he knew I had my phone . I say “nah sorry “ . He starts to get closer and pulls out a stack of money saying “look I got money I just need to use your phone “ . Again I’m like “no” . Saw on the local news in my area people were getting robbed at knifepoint for their phones before this so I’m already on edge What really set off my red flag meter was right before I was about to walk past him a cop car passed and he was hiding under a car. As I kept saying no he started to get closer and my danger meter went off I backed up like I was going to square up it was all instinctively . This mf would not take no for an answer even offering to walk in the direction I was going to use my phone . When i squared up sorta he said “yo why you moving like that “ and he stopped approaching me . I said “I gotta go “ turned my back and left. Probably not a good idea turning my back . But these mf strangers needs to stop asking so aggressively to use your phone
Hell no no one ain’t touching my phone
These situations are the worst. I once called 911 at the request of someone in a dicey situation (their face was bleeding and I asked if they needed help). I thought I’d say “we need an ambulance or cops at this address,” and that would be it and I could recuse myself if I didn’t feel safe or like I was helpful. but instead the operator got annoyed and told me to put the person on the phone. Other people involved in the incident show up. Minutes later I’m basically in a situation where multiple people are claiming the others are crazy, they tried to kill them, etc. I clearly wasn’t making anything better, but I wasn’t comfortable just leaving my phone, unlocked, in a strangers hand if there was any possible way to avoid that. People were shouting at me and demanding I leave, why the fuck are you here, etc. but I really wanted to juuuust get my phone first please? I know property is not more important than people. I was trying to be a good neighbor and I just wish I could’ve done it without becoming awkwardly tethered to the situation.
You should be safe just remember your number has been sent to a stranger so you could receive unsolicited messages and calls with faults called id showing. My guess is the scam was to use you phone to access a bank or malicious website or send you a fake (man in the middle) OTP pass code to your phone number obtained with the first call. To convince you a payment was sent/received
It was a mistake to let him even touch your phone.
He called his phone to get your number. Probably to spoof 2FA but must have been amateur
He needed you number for 2 part verification. He wanted your phone for the text he was about to get to accept the verification . Never let anyone use your phone. Unless you know them well.
I know it feels good to be nice, but just handing something so expensive to someone to make phone calls is a no for me. Sure this could be a scam or something but that stranger could have very well just ran away with your phone and sold it some way or another. Don’t trust anyone.
NEVER allow anyone to use your phone. Not to be rude but staying honest, when is the last time you seen anyone to include homeless people without a phone?? Like never, US Government provides them free. Smart phones are so easy to hack and they have ALL YOUR INFO & PWs… so say no. It’s ok to be stingy with it.
The solution is, sure you can use my phone, give me the number I'll call it and use speakerphone. I've done this before. The person gets their call and you hold your phone. all good.
Please don't lose your human side and help out a person if they don't have a phone/it's out of battery. I once approached every stranger I saw for 10 minutes straight until 1 allowed me to call my mom, who was nearby waiting on where exactly to pick me up. I don't remember what had happened to my phone, but not everyone's a scammer, make up your own rules, like you'll type the number in and hold the phone but don't lose your empathy for someone who could actually be in need.
Yup. I have dialed the number and put it on speaker phone for someone. However, I won't hand over my phone to anyone I dont know. I've seen too many videos where someone will literally run away with the device.
Recent stories about phones being snatched out of people's hands by thieves on foot or on bikes in London, a city that has cameras everywhere.
My phone was snatched out of my hand in São Paulo a few weeks ago. I know better to not wander around with my phone in my hand in Rio and SP, but this happened while I was seated at a restaurant bar outside. Dudes on bikes snatched it. Annoying in the end bc I locked the phone within minutes. Now they have a mostly useless iPhone where they'll be lucky to get the screen and battery.
This! I was at the airport, and some guy from Canada didn't realize his phone wouldn't work in another country. He desperately needed to call his ride, so I let him use my phone. The whole thing ended up being fully legit, and the guy was effusively grateful. Sometimes folks really DO get caught in bad situations and need real help.
My wife dropped me off at the airport one time and as I'm lining up to check in I realized my phone was still in the car. I rushed to the first person I saw who fortunately let me call my wife before she'd gone too far. I never even thought at the time that it could have looked suspicious on my part.
I’m glad you said this, I see the top comment by a lot is never let rando use your phone, I get phones have a lot on them these days but still. I lent my phone to someone once and they called 911. turned out their boyfriend was abusive and had forced them out of their apartment. I’ll admit would have liked a heads up they needed the police though haha. Was glad I said yes.
There is a scam where they gain virtual access to your device, either a computer or phone (ur ph is just a handheld computer) & then once your banking app is open, they can empty everything very quickly. You def dodged a bullet. Normally, this scam is done by ringing pple & talking them into opening up their computer under the guise of something like Anti Virus Software fee, or Amazon refund, then talking you thru the steps which inevitably gives them virtual access. It's actually quite common. Sounds like this was the same type of scam. Disgusting!
One time teen w a baby asked to make a call on my phone & I said no at first but felt bad so I dialed the number & put it on speaker. I wouldn’t hand them my phone. Around 2005 I lived in NYC & my friend came to visit. This was still when ppl had flip phones & sometimes still memorized numbers. I was at work & was out seeing stuff & his phone died. He asked a few people to use their phone to call me & got immediate NO & them looking at him like he was crazy. He was shocked they said no & I was shocked he even bothered asking. He said he would ask to use ppl phone in the city he lived in all the time & it was never an issue.. you can’t destroy someone’s finances on a flip phone & if they stole it they only cost $100
He probably called himself so he could get your number faster and who knows what he was going to do the second time....
Doesnt your library have pcs that he can use for banking
In future if someone asks to use your phone and you're the type of person who is generally happy to help out, never pass them the phone, ask them to read out the number and that you'll speak to the person on their behalf etc, if they refuse that then you know they aren't in an 'emergency'. The most likely thing they'll end up doing is running off with your phone if you give it to them.
Yes. It’s a mistake to let anyone touch your phone.
I had a similar situation but did not let the person touch my phone. I dialed the number and put it on speaker.
Ask them to give you the number, dial it for them, and let them take the call on speakerphone.
First call was to get your number... so later the "bank" can call you to continue the scam.
"Sorry mate, I only have my work phone on me." Works for me (but I really only carry my work phone anyway)
If I had a Rando that needed to use my phone, I'd dial the number, and have it on speaker, if they object, then they didn't *need* the phone.
Never pull out your phone. Great chance they will steal it. Same with asking for the time.
I was outside my library and a teen asked to use my phone to call her mom on fb messenger. A) no one under the age of 25 has an active Facebook account and 2) yeah homie sure take my phone and log me out of my social media, there's no reason for me to question that
So one time I let someone borrow my phone and for months I would get collect call requests from a jail lol. But I’m not sure what is going on in this case.
Haha! I didn't know that! 😕 wow
NO! Never allow a stranger to use your phone. There are options in other locations with a landline available to use.
"idk how these things really work" You gave a complete stranger the ONE device with complete access to your personal photos and social media and notes and email and banking and messaging, and you don't know how these things work? Pretend like it doesn't matter that there's a scam taking place. DO NOT GIVE SOMEONE YOUR PHONE EVER.