Today I was eating outside on Fort Street Mall with two coworkers.  I noticed this one skinny (I mean stick-figure skinny) girl seated by herself at the next table when we sat down.

Just before we finished our food, the girl came over and asked me directly if she could borrow my phone.

"Why do you need to borrow my phone?"

"I need to call my mother."

"Why?  Is it an emergency?"

"I just need to tell her I'm here."

"Don't you have a phone?", as I pointed to the phone in her hand.  She had been wearing earphones attached to that device the whole time we were eating.

"My phone isn't on.", which I took to mean it didn't have cellular service.

"I don't think so.  I've never met you before, and I'm not about to hand anyone I don't know my cell phone."

"Okay.", and she walked away.

For the next 10 minutes, she kept walking up and down the mall there, occasionally stopping to just watch people as they passed by.

When I got back to the office, i Googled "can I borrow your phone scam."  The list of things people can do on your phone in just a few seconds is pretty scary!  Needless to say, I was glad I listened to that voice in my ear telling me something wasn't quite right with that girl's story.

Just thought I'd share....

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Can+I+Borrow+Your+Phone+SCAM

I would have refused and observed but, I would have contacted authorities. If she needed to call her mother so bad, she could have borrowed some coin and used a pay phone, not impossible to find one. Another scam is folks here on Ohau waiting in parking lots with their family in the car, they ask you for 5 or 10 bucks for gas and a promise to pay you back, also car flippers who sell cars that look fine but are screwed, they seem to operate as normal until about a mile down the road. I don't give or help anyone out as the scammers fuked it up.

I guess this is also possible... "Install a malicious app, such as the mobile Zeus trojan. This can then be used to steal banking credentials and email accounts. This seems to be gaining popularity on Android phones."

I would have refused and observed but, I would have contacted authorities. If she needed to call her mother so bad, she could have borrowed some coin and used a pay phone, not impossible to find one. Another scam is folks here on Ohau waiting in parking lots with their family in the car, they ask you for 5 or 10 bucks for gas and a promise to pay you back, also car flippers who sell cars that look fine but are screwed, they seem to operate as normal until about a mile down the road. I don't give or help anyone out as the scammers fuked it up.

The "authorities" can't do anything to her for asking to make a call with my phone.  Unless I let her finish whatever she intended to do, there is no crime. 

As I said, I wasn't sure how much damage she could have done until I researched it.  If I'd known, I might have taken her picture and given it to the mall rent-a-cop.

Scams like these tend to hit Hawaii in large numbers before the word gets out on how to avoid them.  This could be one that's about to hit the fan here.

In this digital age of theft you shouldn't give anyone anything. 

trust no one