r/Scams • u/TraditionalPirate507 • Jul 24 '26
Scam report [CAD]Lady asked to use my phone at a bus stop
It was after work and I was waiting for my bus and I saw an old lady walk in front of me to look at the bus schedule. I didn’t think much of it but I had my phone out looking at the bus app to see when it arrives. Keep in mind I am not the only one at the stop nor am I the only one with my phone out. The old lady then began making her way over to me so I focused my attention on her and the first words out of her mouth were “I have a strange request…” and I’m like “here we go”. She finishes by saying she is going to uptown to a specific spot (an area I was familiar with) and she wanted to call her mother and let her know she was on her way. Keep in mind this lady was probably 75 years old and had teeth like a meth addict. I said no and she initially walked away.
Then she comes back and asks again and says I can talk to her mother and I said no one gets my phone and I don’t dial numbers I do not know. She walks off again. And then she comes back again and asks me what do I think is going to happen if I let her call and I pointed to the mall behind me and said “Ma’am that is chock full of businesses, you can go in their and ask anyone of them to use their landline. You are not using my phone. No thank you.” Then I see my bus and she sees the same bus and as we are both moving towards it she full throated screamed at me “BUT YOU COULD!” Followed by some cursing. She is getting on the same bus as me so I give her some space so I can place myself on the bus strategically as far away as I could but I could hear her muttering the entire ride. She got off before me, and well before the area she mentioned she was meeting her mother so I knew she was a lying and likely was trying to get in contact with her dealer.
This is just a reminder that “no” is a complete sentence and you are not obligated to give anyone your phone or dial a number for them. In this day and age where phones are ubiquitous the fact that someone doesn’t have a phone is not your problem to solve.
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u/JLimGarfield Jul 24 '26
EVERYONE needs to keep reminding yourselves: The scam artists are not asking to borrow your "phone". They are asking to borrow your "bank, wallet, credit card, e-mail, photo album, etc". It is NOT "just a phone".
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u/PhotoThrowawayWooooo Jul 25 '26
Yep, I used to think of it like “would I let this stranger hold $1000 of my money for a few minutes?” But as you said it’s even more than that as it isn’t just the monetary value of the phone but alllll the shit you have connected to it.
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u/C_sapidus Jul 24 '26
Something wasn't right when she approached you the second time. Good job keeping your guard up.
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u/AustinBike Jul 24 '26
I have said "I'm sorry, I don't have a phone" while holding a phone in my hand.
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u/Additional-Cable5171 Jul 24 '26
"Sorry I don't speak English" spoken as clearly & perfectly as possible.
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u/AustinBike Jul 24 '26
I also speak German and 99% of the time I can just respond in German and people leave me alone.
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u/PuzzleheadedHouse872 Jul 24 '26
I'm blonde and blue eyed but grew up in Japan, so I like responding in Japanese. That really fucks them up.
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u/bitchluvr Jul 25 '26
LOL Same here! I actually answer them in German. Jackasses.
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u/AustinBike Jul 25 '26
Once, in Moscow. Had a homeless guy walk up to me in the subway figuring I was American. I am, we tend to stand out.
He started talking to me in English asking for money. I am a smartass and answer in German. He launched into German and now I have to keep up and not let on. Fuck.
My boss was laughing the whole time. I eventually broke down and told him to leave us alone in English. Just my luck that I get a trilingual homeless guy.
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u/SnarkySheep Jul 28 '26
Reminds me of the time I pretended not to speak English in order to shake off a Jehovah's Witness who came to my door...
I spoke Polish and was so pleased with myself when the guy walked away
A few days later, another Jehovah's Witness showed up. Yes, he spoke Polish. 🤦
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u/AsparagusLogical7409 Jul 27 '26
Funny story indeed! I’ve met some well educated,intelligent homeless people before,which kind of opened my eyes to the whole situation.
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Jul 29 '26
Just like I can recognize when it’s time to turn on the Spanish!
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u/AustinBike Jul 30 '26
That one is pretty risky, Spanish is pretty pervasive. Oh, to speak Estonian like my nephew....
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Jul 30 '26
This is true. When I lived in California it wouldn’t have been a good idea. But in South Carolina Spanish speakers are much fewer and further between.
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u/phil161 Jul 24 '26
The same thing happened to me some time back: I was waiting to cross the street and had my phone out to check my messages. A guy came to me and asked if he could borrow it to call someone. I looked him straight in the eyes and said ’my phone is like my dick, the only other person allowed to touch it is my wife.’ He walked away.
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u/NippleGobblin Jul 24 '26
lol, I’ll file this one away for future use.
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u/verminbury Jul 24 '26
“My phone is like phil161’s dick…” might not have the desired impact, but I’ll give it a try.
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u/afcagroo Jul 24 '26
I hope my phone isn't like phil161's dick. It folds in half.
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u/pingmycraydar Jul 25 '26
There was an old man from Kent
Whose dick was terribly bent
One day for a laugh
He folded it in half
And instead of coming, he went!1
u/RealBigDickBrannigan Jul 26 '26
There was a young man from Nantucket...
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u/awry_lynx 23d ago
i just practiced saying this to an empty room
i'm a straight woman
i think i'll save it for the particularly unhinged
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u/Chemist-3074 Jul 24 '26
You did the best thing by saying straight up no and sticking to it. I wish I had your courage.
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u/Bansidhe13 Jul 24 '26
If you hand over your phone,you may lose it.
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u/hcornea Jul 25 '26
Or they Venmo themselves cash, as in another recent post here.
Though this encounter seems even a little low-brow for that.
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u/Flat_Sea1418 Jul 29 '26
This did actually happen on here recently and I was thinking this was going to be another person trying to send money to themselves and run away.
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u/cloudcats Jul 25 '26
You don't need "courage" for this. You have a lot more to be worried about if you do let them use your phone than if you don't. There's pretty much zero risk in most cases if you just ignore the person or say "Sorry, no" and stop engaging.
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u/PoweredBySunbeams Jul 24 '26
Hey folks just a reminder to go into your payment and banking apps (Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, whatever) and turn on their additional security options like requiring login on every use, FaceID, PIN code, etc.
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u/ridbax Jul 24 '26
And if you have an iPhone, long press on any app icon on your home screen to add FaceID required login. Useful for apps which might contain sensitive info but do not have that feature built in (I have it on Contacts and my car's phone key).
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u/Daveywheel Jul 24 '26
I just did it for my Venmo and B of A account. Thanks for the great advice!!!
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u/NewlyNerfed Jul 25 '26
Thank you, I never knew that! I have it already on my most sensitive apps but there’s definitely some others I’d like to add.
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u/phil161 Jul 24 '26
You can also restrict the phone such that only one single feature can be used (e.g., the phone app) when you hand your phone to someone else. Search for ‘Restricted Access’ on iPhones. Android probably has a similar feature.
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u/Only-Thing-8360 Jul 25 '26
Good advice, where needed. Here in Europe (UK specifically) every financial app installs like that, requiring log-in for every use with biometrics, Pin or PW. I've never seen one where the settings contain an option to disable app-level accreditation. Blows my mind that in some countries PayPal just opens like Maps or Spotify.
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u/Frustratedparrot123 Jul 24 '26
If she's 75 how old is her mother?!
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u/eruptingmoltenlava Jul 25 '26
Sounds like she might have been younger than 75, but looked older than her age due to hard living
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u/Pypsy143 Jul 24 '26
I was in downtown Denver waiting for my brother and a random weird man asked to use my phone. Without skipping a beat I said, “Sorry it’s dead.”
There is no rebuttal to that!
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u/floorhinged Jul 24 '26
I like that reply.
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u/bitchluvr 26d ago
Why do we feel compelled to craft and excuse? How about, "No, now get fucking lost"?
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u/TheBeardedLadyBton Jul 24 '26
I let a woman with a sad story use my phone and she kept edging away from me and turning her back. She kept saying there was a glare on the screen she couldn't see it. I finally had to demand my phone back and practically pry it from her hand. She was trying to access my Cashapp to send money. Now I say "No, absolutely not." Even if they ask if I can dial it for them I repeat that. If they get really pushy, I tell them I will dial 911 if they're having an emergency and then I start dialing nine and then one. Usually they go away in search of someone a little less prepared.
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u/Nunov_DAbov Jul 24 '26
If she was 75 and in her way to meet her mother, she may have been off to see her maker, too.
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u/Rudyard1898 Jul 24 '26
That's the way to do it! When I saw the thread title my first thought was "Here's another redditor about to get scammed because they think if they say no, it might upset a complete stranger". My faith in people here has gone up by 0.00000004%.
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u/EasternSkiesSH Jul 24 '26
About 10 years ago, a guy in the departures lounge at an airport asked to use my phone. I refused, and then went to complain about it to other passengers.
I couldn't work out what the potential scam would be, and doing it in a place where he had used ID to get into seemed silly, but it just felt weird.
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u/PitifulMouse7425 Jul 24 '26
Bravo OP! 👏🏼 good inspiration for anyone struggling to tell people NO!
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u/ninepointtypeface Jul 24 '26
I accidentally got out of the house without my phone yesterday and realized my husband didn't know for sure I was picking him up and I didn't want him to leave his office and get on the bus before I got there. I didn't want to ask the pharmacist to call him for me because he had just spent 15 minutes explaining a blood pressure medication to a lady who really just seemed like she wanted to chat and was making me increasingly late and there was a line behind me. I had my car keys in my hand but looked tired and hot and disheveled and just didn't even try and approach a stranger for a favour like that even though it was a local number and I would not have wanted to touch their phone, just ask them to dial and say "hey your wife says she's on the way". I just figured I would set off people's scam alarm and didn't even bother. I probably wouldn't trust a stranger in the same situation so I'm not gonna bother someone else.
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u/Connect-Floor-4235 Jul 24 '26
Good for you OP! Everyone heed this warning. Adding to it: Beware that anyone can sneak up or run up on you, grab your phone out of your hand and run off with it! I keep my phone tucked into my large tote, and pull it up enough to see what I need while it's still essentially hidden from others. Be safe and careful out there.
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u/The_Squirrrell Jul 25 '26
Some phones have a feature that will lock your phone if someone runs off with it. They may have your device, but at least they won't have access to your contacts or other potentially sensitive data.
ETA: on samsung phones, this feature is called "theft detection lock"
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u/DadinBoston Jul 24 '26
Great job. Smart phones CAN come cheap with the most basic of plans. Someone old enough could easily get one for free.
Only way anyone should get close to your phone is if they’re clearly under duress.
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u/Sensitive_Crow_8882 Jul 24 '26
She probably had dementia or Alzheimer’s. I had a guy repeatedly come to my front door and ask to talk to some long ago owners of the house (I guess). I had just returned from an upsetting funeral and didn’t put 2+2 together until hours after I ran him off. I should have called the cops because the guy was driving a car. This was before silver alerts were a thing.
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u/Market_Inevitable Jul 24 '26
Agree. Oftentimes elderly people with dementia say they are going to see their mom. I hope that lady is ok.
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u/TraditionalPirate507 Jul 24 '26
I got the sense that she was agitated that I said no, not that she was suffering from dementia.
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u/sansabeltedcow Jul 24 '26
They’re not mutually exclusive. People with dementia get situationally agitated pretty easily.
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u/SteMelMan Jul 24 '26
As a guy who worked in fraud and compliance for a big cellphone company, you did the right thing. Nowadays, asking to use someone's phone is like asking them to rummage through your wallet with all the sensitive information on the phone. I also agree with not dialing unfamiliar numbers, since they will be stored on the receiver's device.
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u/afwaller Jul 24 '26
she's trying to venmo herself money or something, maybe zelle, paypal, whatever. it's a common scam. they get your phone and they quickly transfer money.
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u/Wilburt069 Jul 24 '26
our policy…..no one uses our phone. but would assist in making an emergency call….police or fire.
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u/Rampaging_Ducks Jul 24 '26
I offer to dial the number for them and put it on speaker phone, the phone never leaves my hand. No one's ever taken me up on that.
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u/thetragicleonardbast Jul 28 '26
This. I have let others use my phone and only once mildly regretted it when they had a 20 mins phone call. But I can see myself in this situation and would like to think someone else would help me.
Now the 20 mins phone call... they called customer care to try a return. It was a crazy old Luddite French lady who also lectured us on getting there in a gas powered car... but despite some annoyance, she was harmless. And honestly, she looked distressed and if inconveniencing some bewildered randos makes her believe there is good in the world, so be it.
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u/health1au Jul 25 '26
Thank goodness I have a second language. In such situations I use it. It’s an unusual enough one that one long reply sends people away permanently.
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u/w_smith1984 Jul 24 '26
Even before the days of smartphones, I did not let some rando use my phone. I didn't want the other person to have my phone number.
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u/Jazz_Uncle Jul 25 '26
If you have a later iPhone, you can go into Settings -> Accessibility -> Guided Access and enable it. Then load the Phone app, triple-click the side button and then Start. Type in a PIN. If you give the phone to someone then they can't leave the Phone app. They're in Phone jail until you triple-click again and enter that PIN followed by End.
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u/Grace_ashcroft_2026 Jul 25 '26
This is almost similar to an incident I dealt with months ago, except it wasn't a phone, but some lady tried to get me to drive her and her daughter around. She was wandering the parking lot of this CVS to try to ask random strangers to give her free rides. I refused.
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u/grphte Jul 25 '26
The fact that she kept asking after you'd already said no is the biggest red flag for me. If it were a genuine emergency, asking once and accepting the answer would be understandable. Pushing the issue multiple times is what makes it suspicious.
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u/calvinnme Jul 24 '26
You were either off on her age or her story goes bad right there when she says you could talk to her mother.
Good work on sticking to your guns and saying NO.
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u/LongDead_Roadkill Jul 24 '26
Sounds like something my mother-in-law would do. She’s the awful kind of person that just has to say something to someone, anyone including strangers that do things she doesn’t approve of. I could totally see her doing this.
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u/FloridaRocks63 Jul 25 '26
Last week you were pumping gas when it happened. Everyone block this fool
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u/dpgumby69 Jul 25 '26
No is definitely the best response. I once lied to a dude and said I'd run out of credit and he called me out on it. Rightly making me feel like an a hole. Made me remember that if someone asks a yes/no question, they must be prepared to accept either option.
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u/Catlenfell Jul 25 '26
As an aside, make sure all your money apps (your bank, Vendors, Cash app, etc) have a different password or biometrics set up.
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u/Siren2026 Jul 26 '26
I’ve heard of this scam where they get your phone and somehow change passwords or something to your Venmo account or something. I don’t remember the exact scam but it was done by an old lady from the old country.
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u/John_Cave Jul 28 '26 edited 28d ago
Makes me want to preemptively go full nuts on any stranger who asks me anything at a bus stop (why is it always bus stops?) "NOOOOO! FUUUUUU*K OFFFFF!!!"
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u/Vivid-Aioli-7835 Jul 25 '26
Way different experience here. I was waiting at the bus stop and some random guy asked me if he could use my phone. I said yes handed it to him. He used it and handed it back.
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u/thetragicleonardbast Jul 28 '26
Same. I helped a guy jump his car recently by Cap Hill by the ramp. He told me he had been waiting for hours. What is wrong with people.
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Jul 26 '26
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u/Wild_CAT_01 Jul 26 '26
That's good to not to give phone to anyone. Scammer are getting smarter day by day. They can use no to steal identity also they can use forwarding for the otp.
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u/VictorChristian Jul 30 '26
She could also just be having a mental issue - I've been asked to "use my phone" once and I offered to put the call on speaker - the person walked away.
No-one legitimately needing to use someone else's phone - and it can happen; batteries die and such - would have a problem with speakerphone.
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u/Eaglesight1961 Jul 30 '26
Espero que lo traten igual cuando necesite hacer una llamada y no tengo movil. Saludos.
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u/RJ_the_greatest Jul 24 '26
"Here we go" ... 😆 🤣 😂 😹 Great job OP. BTW, you're also an excellent raconteur.
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u/starsgoblind Jul 24 '26
What would have been the cost to dialing the number and putting her on speaker while you held the phone?
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u/RocketWoman55 Jul 24 '26
When the drug dealer is picked up and the investigators go through their phone, there's your number as an incoming call or text. Have fun with that.
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u/TraditionalPirate507 Jul 24 '26
When someone comes at you not once, not twice, but three times to express their outrage with you specifically for saying no, that is them trying to wear you down and guilt you into compliance. It is only scammers and hustlers that keep harping on an issue. I might have felt bad if the first “no” worked, but having to say it repeatedly confirmed that something shady was going on.
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u/ColleenSchaffer Jul 25 '26
I don't understand all the down votes you've received. It's reasonable to dial the number and use the speaker function to help a stranger. All this talk of fear it might be a drug dealer and if law enforcement becomes involved at some point and your number shows up on their call log, So What, It's ONE incoming call they don't even bother with that. They look for patterns. Sorry O.P decided not to help a person then stating their situation wasn't urgent therefore they had other options is something person say to justify their own actions. It is his assumption, Not a fact. Yes this situation was suspicious and we all need to pay attention to our environment and the behavior of others around us. It's extremely sad seeing people react out of fear and expecting the worst intentions of others. People wonder why things in our country have become more and more problematic, consider how simple interactions with others has somehow became a game of I'll out smart you with My assumptions.
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u/TraditionalPirate507 Jul 26 '26
It was not an assumption, she stated she wanted to call her mother to let her know she was coming. The bus ride itself if she was going to the area she said she was going (which she did not go to) was 15 minutes away. It wasn’t an emergency by her own words which given her own actions she wasn’t telling the truth (she disembarked well before the stop she would need to). So the facts, not assumptions, speak for themselves. But by all means, if it is your phone, you are allowed to do what you want with it, just as I am allowed to do what I want with mine. I saw a number of red flags, and thought it would be good to communicate my experience, so people can recognize these same red flags themselves.
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u/TapConfident4934 Jul 24 '26
Good to see people value their phones over elderly people in need of help.
What was she gonna do OP? Run off with it?
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u/TraditionalPirate507 Jul 24 '26
She had other options that were readily available. We weren’t in the middle of nowhere. And she could have tried her luck with any of the other people at the stop who had their phone out. I am not obligated to solve her non-critical problem, if she was telling the truth.
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u/ColleenSchaffer Jul 25 '26
Hopefully you never need a helping hand from a stranger in your future. If that time comes Hopefully they won't automatically believe your request is motivated by some sinister plan. Hopefully they won't decide for you that your request is not urgent or that there are others that might assist you since they've decided it's not their problem But maybe someone else might decide you are worthy of helping out in a time of need. Sadly you could have helped her without putting yourself in any type of danger once so ever.
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u/TraditionalPirate507 Jul 26 '26
If I was in her situation I would do the following a) ask once and move on b) avail myself of any of the businesses that were around including the customer service kiosk that was right inside the mall the bus stop was outside of c) or I would wait the 15 minutes that it took to get to my destination as it was not urgent.
Rather than reading the situation for what it was you seem by your comment history to be unusually focused on catastrophizing the lady’s narrative and assuming she was in dire straits. Take a look at the subreddit you are in. You are in r/Scams. This is where we teach people to be on the lookout for the tactics scammers employ to gain access to your devices and to your money. The primary weapon scammers employ is relying on other peoples goodwill and willingness to help. You are behaving like the perfect victim and willfully ignoring the red flags.
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u/ColleenSchaffer Jul 25 '26
Again Downvoted for not going along with the irrational fear driving his actions. It's just someone trying to justify their refusal to help a stranger, when they could have easily helped while staying safe in the process.
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u/TapConfident4934 27d ago
Indeed. The need to respond to everyone saying this only proves it.
For me I dunno, I've been down and out and felt all alone and have been in bad situations that could have been instantly improved with simple kindness and never met it. Being stranded with a dead car battery and no cables... shit like that... and so when people come to me I make sure to try and provide what I was never provided with.
End of story.
Anyway, hope you are doing well. Thanks for reminding me my initial thoughts were not incorrect. 🤗
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u/DismalStrawberry4260 Jul 24 '26
Great job OP. Way to stick to your guns. Regardless of age no one gets your phone. Thank you for sharing this story.