TAMPA, Fla. — What began as a much-needed enjoyable women’ night time out in Ybor City, led to a whole lot of {dollars} being stolen from a Tampa girl.
“It was a con that they had planned and orchestrated together,” stated Ashley Young.
Young informed ABC Action News she was approached inside Hot Wax Coffee Shop simply earlier than 2 am by a person who claimed he was urgently attempting to find his sister and requested to borrow her phone.
“A moment later, another guy comes up and is talking to me and engaging me. My friend comes up, and we’re talking to him. This man is using my phone. I see him he’s got it out,” Young stated.
In lower than 5 minutes the person returns the phone and leaves.
“In those five minutes, he tried to make four [transactions]. He made two successfully, $480 and $412 were taken from my bank and transferred to two different people,” stated Young.
The thief positioned the Cash App on Young’s phone, stealing a complete of $892.
“In just a very short time they were going to take advantage of you and take a full month’s rent, diapers for my baby, food for my baby,” she stated.
Thieves are utilizing this tactic to steal money inside seconds. Some ideas to provide help to keep away from this cell phone crime are:
- Don’t share your phone with a stranger.
- Ask to make the decision for the particular person utilizing speaker phone.
- Have the safety settings activated in case you are going to use a banking or money app.
- Sign out of accounts and use passcodes or face ID.
Young has filed a police report and has made a declare together with her financial institution. “So $892 is just in limbo. I don’t know if they’re spending it or if it’s in limbo for them, but certainly, it’s not with me,” Young stated.