Hyderabad man foils a phone snatching attempt near Wipro Circle, learn how

Man shares his experience on how he averted a possible phone snatching attempt when three unknown persons approached him seeking 'help'

Hyderabad: Imagine you are casually walking on the road on a warm summer night and suddenly some random guys approach you asking for ‘help’. In that instance your gut tells you something is suspicious but your heart tells you to help them instead. What would you do then? Would you help them or slide away from the spot?

Something similar happened with this redditor, whose name is not known, who shared his experience on the platform. He said he might have escaped a potential phone snatching scam near Wipro Circle. He said that a group of three people were sitting on a bike on the side of the road while he was returning from the gym at 11.30 pm. While one of them got down from the bike he was sitting on, another person approached the redditor and asked if he had booked any Ola ride.

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When denied, the person started asking for the redditor’s phone to check for the fare for the ride to his home. Feeling something is fishy, the redditor said, “Battery low bro, can’t help” and walked away from the place. He had his headphones on, the strangers noticed, but still their behavior felt wrong for him to help.

As he was walking away, the guys casually rolled their bike towards him and shouted, “Oh we were just chilling here, nothing to see.”

Expressing his thoughts the redditor said, “I’m not saying 100% it was a scam, but it definitely felt fishy. My guess: they wanted me to pull out my phone and get distracted, and then one of them would’ve snatched it. The third guy could pretend he had nothing to do with it.”

Sharing this, the redditor said he felt unsafe and quirkily added he might need pepper spray for his future night walks.

“Its very much possible that they were planning to snatch, u never know… Better safe than sorry. U did well, thinking on ur feet” (sic), another redditor commented to the post.

“You trusted your instincts, you did good”, said another.

This redditor’s story ended normally. The strangers have not harmed or mishandled him. This might seem to be a normal situation. They might have really needed help. But the person’s gut feeling had helped him avert a possible mishap. If he had stopped and helped them, they might have snatched his phone and might have also hurt him.

Think if this similar situation happens with you. Some random strangers approach you asking for a favour or help. Would you follow them blindly or act as your inner voice says?