You’re going about your day, possibly doing some shopping, walking, or just anything that puts you out in public where people might gather. You’re approached by an individual - their phone is dead, or missing, or whatever and they need to make a call. Or maybe you’re at a store, and someone in the shop’s work uniform or similar approaches you offering coupon codes, if you only give them your phone to add the discount.

Feeling good, you do so… only to check later and find money taken out of your bank account, via Venmo, Cashapp, or similar.

This scam takes advantage of people’s willingness to help a stranger in distress (or greed, in the case of the coupon code version). While it is a physical world scam, it crosses into the cyber realm due to the fact that smart phones are essentially little computers and people rely on convenience over security.

How to protect yourself
Do not let anybody who you don’t absolutely trust handle your phone. (Obviously, there are exceptions like staff at your authorized wireless provider/repair shop, or if you are required to do so by law enforcement.)

If someone needs to call their friend/ride/etc, ask them for the number and dial it for them. Put the phone on speaker. Someone with a legit need will be grateful, someone who isn’t will either walk away or have you dial a random number.

The second version with the coupon is much rarer, and just basically is down to not letting a random person touch your phone.

A secondary line of defense is requiring some kind of password or passcode on sensitive apps (payment apps and bank apps, along with anything else you wouldn’t want someone to get into). This will not stop a determined person but it will slow down people wanting to quickly transfer money. However, not handing your phone to anybody in the first place is the best line of defense.