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Another Scam to Be Aware Of, Lending a Stranger Your Phone

In the News

This 28 year old was on a night out and a little drunk

A stranger asked if they could borrow her phone to make a call , an accomplice distracted her and they made off with it with her bank card tucked in the wallet

She didn't think to cancel the card and the next morning found someone had drained her account of over £9,000 making purchases at an apple store

They got some information off her phone as she had mobile banking

The bank only refunded some of her losses due to her not reporting it immediately, but she had all her details on her phone so struggled to contact the bank

So a cautionary tale, first do not lend your phone to a stranger and secondly don't put your bank card in the phone wallet

www.compsmag.com/news/i-was-in-despair-how-lending-a-phone-led-to-life-savings-being-stolen/

telmel
a month ago
What do you think of this?+20 points
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Pfs

Plenty of scum in our world nowadays and the authorities have little power as prison doesn't work for most.

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telmel

Pfs True P, they target nice people unfortunately

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Pfs

telmel I used to work for the council emptying bins and find handbags and cards ect and rang the the bank on my phone to explain and they wasn't interested that I found somebody's details . I've also had my bank card stolen with my pin and I knew who it was who took it but once again wasn't interested even though I did get my money back

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telmel

Pfs Thats the problem with councils P, epathy

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tumblespots

I read this and started giggling as anyone who wants to borrow my phone would have a big shock as it doesn't connect to the internet let alone have any bank details on it, and, that's assuming that I have it on me!

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MelissaLee1

tumblespots that's me all over

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telmel
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tumblespots

telmel I don't think my phone can do that!

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telmel

tumblespots I know T, it was just showing a warning that should come up on the screen if you hand your phone to a stranger , i am watching you 😀

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tumblespots
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jam45

MelissaLee1 Well done!

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MelissaLee1

jam45 Mine does go online but I have only a few Mb of data available and I seldom ever take it out when I go out.If I use data I use my home broadband at home.No banking apps either.

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tumblespots

MelissaLee1 I think my phone is supposed to have a camera but I haven't worked out how to use it 🤔 and although I have a digital camera it has taken me about a year and a half to get to grips with taking good photo's on that! I hate technology..

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MelissaLee1

tumblespots I never read manuals I just go by the old what happens if I press that rule.One day I'll blow something or someone up lol.

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tumblespots
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Jackscot

Is her owe fault? I know I would not lend a stranger my phone

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Leannexxx

I would never let anyone use my phone if I don't know them so it's kinda her own fault

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BonzoBanana

I wouldn't lend my phone in that situation unless it was a friend or family certainly not a stranger.

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RegularComper91

You have to be really careful, but it's a bit silly lending your phone to a stranger, particuarly when it has your banking details on it. And why didn't she think to cancel her card?

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telmel

I think i would make an excuse like my battery is flat rather than say no , the scammers are experts at getting people to hand them over, like saying it is an emergency something similar to make you feel guilty, there is no reply to a flat phone, unless they pull out a universal charger from their pockets 🤔

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jms19

I think in most cases scams can be avoided with a little common sense but some of them are very clever.

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telmel

jms19 They depend on catching people unaware J

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PhilipMarc

jms19 That's like viruses, too.

Don't open suspicious links or programs (e.g. on Windows) and you won't have to worry about viruses most of the time.

Just recently I formatted a laptop of a friend which he had two AV programs and a lot of junk installed that made it run very slow, after I took care of it it runs adequately decent (it only has 3GB RAM which isn't ideal).

And the OS I installed on that laptop was Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC = no M$ Store, no pre-installed programs, and no Edge browser. Plus, it has extended support until 2029. Awesome.

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MelissaLee1

PhilipMarc Clever lad.

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MrsCraig

I would never lend my phone to a stranger. There are no banking details on my phone anyway but I still wouldn't do it.

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PhilipMarc

I guarantee I'd never allow a stranger to use my phone and people who do allow it, they'll regret it.

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PaxAmerica

Scam? Isnt this just a theft from person! Mate there are a lot of unethical scumbags out there. The judicial system is far too lenient on repeat offenders. Its a joke

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martinlufc5637

I wouldn't hand my phone to anyone, if someone asked me, I'd say there's a phone box somewhere use that..

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Pfs

We're all talking about strangers but most of the times it's your friends that rip you off

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telmel

Pfs I suppose that can happen P but if they did they would no longer be my friends

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Pfs

telmel friends can rip you off aswell and some family

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LHP118

It's sad that everyone seems to be a scammer - online, on the phone and in real life. We have to be careful.. but the good news is that there are lovely people out there as well.

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jam45

LHP118 I agree with you 100%.

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Consumer

I would never lend anyone my mobile, have a bank card in the wallet or have mobile banking! Good that this story made it into the news.

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Jerseydrew

I'm cynical and would never lend my phone to anyone cos of it getting stolen. I'm not trusting of people

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blacklabrador

The amount my phone cost me I'd not even let a family member use it 😆

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PhilipMarc

This scam is dangerous as the info store on their phones can be far higher than the device is worth it.

Anyway, I sure wish I'd get a scammer to call me so I'd waste his time like this guy does to them:

North Caroleena and Floreeda sound like great places to go on vacation. lol

I love that they end up saying "Please stop calling." when usually they're the ones who shouldn't be calling people. 🤣

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