Page 2 | Not to have a problem with giving someone my smartphone to borrow?

anxiouswaiting · 14/12/2020 16:40

Years ago I met a guy through my ex who was a professional con man.

He would dress in a smart suit, well groomed etc then spend the day moving around various car parks claiming to be a business man visiting the area and asking people to help him with money for the ticket machine or petrol because of losing his wallet.

He had printed up business cards, gave them to people and even offered to take their details so he could pay them back.

He was actually pretty much funding his heroin habit that way for many months before he moved on to a new scam.

My point being, it's pretty easy for thieves and fraudsters to present in a way that makes them look trustworthy, that's how they manage to keep stealing and conning people!

I dont think how she was dressed would be a good indicator of being trustworthy (I also dont think someone who is scruffy is untrustworthy).

tommika · 14/12/2020 17:28

@LeSangeEstDansLarbre

I can think of a number of good reasons: phone security; possibility of theft of the phone; possible theft if your payment details, etc; germy hands (not just COVID!)...

Is this Revolut thing like PayPal? (Sorry, I am old). If so and she already has an account then surely she has another way she usually uses to access the app? Are you sure she hasn’t managed to use one of your accounts for something and has spent a chunk of your money?

By the way - you can’t tell a wrong ‘un by how they look, dress or sound. The best con artists are the most plausible.

Revolut is a pre-paid debit card. I have a Revolut account with both a physical card and another virtual card. You can add children’s accounts to give them a card.

I use it to link to my Apple Pay on my phone rather than my real account and to make payments to anywhere where I might not want the recipient to know my account details or the site looks a bit dodgy.

The cards can be switched on and off with the app, and money loaded onto it instantly. I keep my cards disabled and only ever have a balance of under £10. When I want to use it I check the balance, load some money, enable one of the cards, use the card, disable it.

There are free and paid subscriptions depending on what facilities you want, I don’t subscribe (and don’t pay any transaction fees). At first I only used the virtual card and only ordered a real card when it had a free offer

tommika · 14/12/2020 17:32

@espagna

Don't know whether this is the suitable subforum for this. I got in this argument with a friend. I was waiting for the bus and a woman in her 20s asked to borrow my phone to make a call to her mom to send her money on Revolut. She looked genuine and well dressed so I handed it to her with no hesitation.

My friend says I'm stupid because she could have run away with it but I disagree. I wouldn't give my phone to any stranger, I'd analyse them and see if they appear 'genuine'. If they look shabby, in bad clothes, then not a hope in hell. Also not to be discriminatory but if it's a young man I'd be a bit more wary.

You weren’t unreasonable but were also not cautious. Most people are decent human beings, but you can’t tell by appearances

You should ensure that no apps can be installed without password entry (or fingerprint etc) and the same for all your banking apps and logging into anything.

iPhones have a ‘guided access’ option that you can use to restrict access when handing a phone to someone. There is probably an equivalent for Android etc

www.howtogeek.com/251775/how-to-share-your-iphone-without-people-snooping-around/

TransplantedScouser · 14/12/2020 17:41

The other week my DH went to work leaving his phone in my car. He has a mobile job and not one where he can take calls (think driver). I’d arranged to meet him at a certain point at end of his shift.

We normally txt or speak a few times a day - not control I just because we like talking to each other

Without any further info I would have aimed to get that point as would he.

Anyway at a couple of points a couple of colleagues lent him their phones to talk to me. In transport anything could happen to change plans

So glad they were not paranoid

ScrapThatThen · 14/12/2020 17:53

I have in this situation made a call for the person, but I would not part with my phone.

ny20005 · 14/12/2020 18:05

You are being far too trusting. Never hand your smartphone to anyone else to use. You've been lucky if your card details weren't cloned & your online banking cleared out !

FromageRay · 14/12/2020 18:10

Transplantedscouser Forgive me if I have misunderstood but you're talking about colleagues? Slightly different from a random stranger.

snookercue · 14/12/2020 18:54

@TransplantedScouser

What you describe is not even closely related to the situation in the OP

yelyah22 · 14/12/2020 19:04

YABU, mostly for assuming that bad people only dress like street urchins.

CottonSock · 14/12/2020 19:06

Someone knocked on my door last week to ask the same, I made the call for her. Not sure I would have handed over my laptop. She was locked out and very grateful.

purplecorkheart · 14/12/2020 19:11

No, I am afraid I would not. I have seen more than one person losing their phone by someone asking to borrow it. I will make a phonecall for them or give them money for a pay phone. Admittedly anytime I have been asked has been outside bus/train stations so there have been payphones nearby.

Brighterthansunflowers · 14/12/2020 19:12

YABU for thinking conmen/conwoman wouldn’t dress smartly and look respectable

And YABU for giving a valuable item to a stranger and hoping they’re not a con artist

I wouldn’t hand over my phone to a stranger. Tbh even dialling myself and putting it on speakerphone i would worry it was an excuse to get me to hold my phone out so their partner in crime could come running up and grab it out of my hand.

LolaSmiles · 14/12/2020 19:16

I'd dial their number and put them on speakerphone, but wouldn't hand my phone over.

LilMidge01 · 14/12/2020 19:33

i think its kind of you and we all shouldnt be so cynical.

I do a lot of long distance running and one time when i was marathon training in what was meant to be a pretty long run anyway, the run was feeling particularly good so I decided to carry on going and do a longer loop whcih would take me to a train station that i could get home from (had contactless card in pocket but no phone).
At the train station I asked a lady if I could use her phone to let my boyfriend know I was ok and on my way home as by the time I got back I would have been out way longer than he expected. I was really grateful she let me

I think also things like that, women generally support other women and dont want them to be stranded somewhere, which I'm guessing was the case here if the girl needed her mum to send some money to her card.

Chanjer · 14/12/2020 20:35

Done it a couple of times, refused it alot more times

1 time a woman rang a dealer and another a locked out woman rang from my phone and then later I got a call from some bloke going mental wondering how I knew that woman