Someone asking to borrow your phone? It could be a scam

Stories of people falling for scams are becoming a lot more common now, and it’s quite likely that you might personally know someone who has fallen victim to some kind of scam in recent times.

Understandably, many of these involve technology, and scammers take advantage of the complexity of tech and people’s imperfect understanding of how many of our gadgets and devices fully work. Modern smartphones give us extensive access to our finances, and scammers take advantage of this to get access to victims’ finances.

A new type of scam involves taking advantage of your kindness, by asking to borrow your phone for some reason. You should be cautious of this, since the scammer can get quick access to your sensitive financial data in a matter of seconds. 

The way this scam works

The scammer may approach you in a public place and ask to borrow your phone. This can be to make an emergency call (while claiming that they have lost their own phone or it’s run out of battery), or even to quickly send a text message to someone for whatever reason. The scammer will pretend that it’s an emergency to get you to hand over your phone to them quickly and not doubt their intentions, but this can lead to bad consequences for you.

Once you give the phone to the scammer, they can use this in a number of ways which can adversely affect you. One such way is to install an app on your phone, which can allow the scammers to access your phone’s data, or even mirror the screen. This method can be used to view passwords or OTPs, which can be used to access your financial accounts and transfer money out to the scammers.

Another method could be setting up call or message forwarding, which will allow the scammers to access communication from your bank. Other methods could involve stealing personal identity information for future activities, or even swap out the SIM card to get access to your phone number.

How to avoid this scam

The simplest method is to avoid handing over your smartphone to a stranger entirely, but you might often feel bad for those who might genuinely need help. If you do hand over your phone to someone you don’t know or trust, there are a few things you can do to keep yourself safe.

• Keep an eye on your phone and its screen, and don’t allow the person to move away from you while they have your phone.
• Dial the phone number yourself, and keep the phone on speaker mode to ensure that you are monitoring the conversation – if it’s indeed an emergency, the person won’t be so concerned about keeping the conversation private.
• Check for any new apps or messages on your phone immediately after you receive it back. Also check that your SIM card is in place.

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If you do notice something amiss, the safest thing to do is to immediately switch off your phone until you are able to regain control. You should also contact your bank to take further action, such as securing your bank accounts or changing any passwords. Also, alert law enforcement authorities if necessary.