Morgantown police warning residents of theft, fraud through cell phone sharing

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (KDKA) - Morgantown police have issued a warning to anyone with a cell phone: Don't lend it to strangers.

"The Morgantown Police Department is currently investigating numerous incidents of theft and fraud relating to cell phones and mobile payment apps," the department said in a release posted to Twitter. "Suspects approach the victim and ask to borrow their phone to make a call. Once the suspect has access to the phone, they then quickly use a mobile payment app (such as Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Apple Cash, etc.) on the phone to send a payment to another account."

The department advised against sharing a cell phone with strangers, saying to utilize the smartphone's auto-locking features like Face ID or passcodes to unlock the phone or any of the aforementioned payment apps.

In:
• West Virginia
• Fraud
• Scam Alert