New phone theft scam on the rise in Accra - Victims share experiences

Ghanaians have been alerted of a new emerging trend involving a deceptive strategy robbers now use to steal mobile phones from victims.

The new trend, according to some social media users who have fallen victim, is that the robbers approach unsuspecting victims and request for their phones to make calls, then eventually drive off with the stolen phones.

One of such victims is popular Ghanaian media personality, Gifty Bingley.

This was how she narrated her experience in a Facebook post on December 30, 2023:

"Please exercise caution. This morning, as I jogged, a man in a Mercedes persistently honked and drove dangerously close. He stopped, pleading that his phone battery was dead and he urgently needed to make a call to inform someone that he was on his way.

"I hesitated for a second, then empathized, thinking I could be in a similar situation if I were driving without my car charger. I offered him my iPhone. Regrettably, I overlooked a critical warning sign: his car’s running engine. After unlocking my phone and handing it to him, the first thing he did was switch off my location service and speed off. Everything happened so fast, I couldn’t shout. Please be careful out there and exercise caution in your empathy and kindness. A Mercedes… like how?"

Another victim, Omy Bae, also in her post on January 11, 2024, narrated that her phone was snatched from her through a similar approach.

"Last night my phone( 14pro max) was snatched from me and they drove the car over me at the ARS to American house stretch around 6 to 7 pm...

"He is dark skin, chubby, with beard, mine looked like a Hyundai 4*4 / a Honda CRV, light blue/ashy, but listening to people, he uses Civic as well, he’s with his friends, the cars are not registered and with no DV plate.

"He will either ask you for direction like he did to me or start a Snapchat conversation. Y’all be careful out there, Ghana is not safe anymore. They are doing it to both men and women. Don’t be too nice or smile to anybody," she posted on Facebook.

Blogger, SikaOfficial has also shared a video on the X app depicting how a woman's phone was stolen from her through a similar approach.

Read the social media reactions below:

Everyone, especially women, is cautioned to be on their guard to avoid becoming victims of theft. According to a trusted source, this incident occurred at an undisclosed workplace here in Accra, where a man called a woman, who was among her friends, to have a conversation with… pic.twitter.com/3oh0dRXZP7

— SIKAOFFICIAL???? (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) March 26, 2024