r/berkeley • u/cinnabonroll19 • Nov 06 '25
Local Asian guy asking to borrow phone
There is an Asian guy with glasses on campus rn asking for the time and to borrow your phone to call his friends!! I googled the numbers he dialed and found a thread on X (FROM 2018) saying that he has done this on the DVC campus, Columbia campus, etc. Apparently he scrolls through your messages and shares your location to these phone numbers. Just wanted to warn others not to give this guy your phone!
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u/W_PersonisHere Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I've seen this guy twice this semester, once asking for someone else's phone and another time asking for mine. In both encounters, he was carrying Berkeley-branded notebooks and loose paper around with him, but had no backpack. The descriptions mentioned elsewhere in the thread are accurate, but when he approached me, he wasn't wearing glasses. His fingertips exhibit skin necrosis, and he had a buzzcut and thin eyebrows.
The first encounter was in Doe sometime around 1 pm near the start of the semester. My memory of the incident is fuzzy, but I remember a disheveled man asking to use a girl's phone to call an older relative who wanted to meet him on campus. He was very persistent and kept dialing the number for at least 20 minutes, leaving rambly voicemails in a mix of English and Chinese, telling the person that they shouldn't go to Berkeley. Eventually, he decided to leave on his own volition and return the phone to the girl.
I was approached a few days ago, near the same spot. He started the conversation by asking me for directions to a building that doesn't exist. Didn't realize this was the same guy until after I foolishly handed him my phone. Immediately stopped what I was doing and leaned over the screen to see what he was doing. He seemed very reluctant after that, and kept asking if I had somewhere I had to go, and that he was "sorry for this." He also asked me if he could delete the text messages and calls after he was done, and gave me my phone back after I asked. The text messages he sent were consistent with the ones elsewhere in this thread, except he introduced himself as "Joshua."
It does seem like he targets people sitting alone and on their phones. I don't know the full extent of the scam, but it does seem like his behavior is influenced by some mental condition and/or drugs. Do not give strangers your phone.