Friend lost her phone, and whoever found it wants £50 to give it back..
Release Me
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Pretty much as the title says, my friend lost her phone and whoever has it wants £50 to bring it back. Problem is she's out of the country, and has asked me to get it for her and she'll give me the money when she's back.
Now this guy says he wants the £50 for his "troubles" of bringing it to our house and giving it to me, so i suggested he instead give his address and i'll pick it up for free and it won't cause him any trouble at all.
He' refused this, and is insisting he'll only drop it off at our house and wants the £50. To me this guy is effectively holding the phone for the money, and it's no better than theft.
My friend is quite happy to pay, but to me it isn't right, should i just let this guy get away with £50 of her money for effectively having now stolen the phone?
Now this guy says he wants the £50 for his "troubles" of bringing it to our house and giving it to me, so i suggested he instead give his address and i'll pick it up for free and it won't cause him any trouble at all.
He' refused this, and is insisting he'll only drop it off at our house and wants the £50. To me this guy is effectively holding the phone for the money, and it's no better than theft.
My friend is quite happy to pay, but to me it isn't right, should i just let this guy get away with £50 of her money for effectively having now stolen the phone?
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Comments
To the OP, I'm disgusted that someone could be so callous.
Could you arrange to meet this guy in a public place to hand over the phone? It does seem a bit odd that he's insisting on coming to your house.
Yeah, i agree with this - have an officer with you at the agreed time he turns up. Ask him outright to confirm in front of the officer what exactly his "troubles" were.
Sadly the phone networks arent that precise. The police can only find out what mast the phone last pinged off which means it can be an area of several square miles and if its a built up area - well needle and haystack spring to mind
Get the police involved. He's a thief and an extortionist - he should be arrested. And I don;t know that it would be wise to have him at your house either - unless the police are there.
This.
Its the stuff of movies that triangulations are instant, on any phone to a pinpoint. I had a robbery the other night at a house I let and took the guests mobile etc. Police came over and said they won't run a trace because it's 'incredibly expensive'.
And even if they do in town or something you can be looking ar an area covering several thousand houses. Or another entire part of the city.
Sadly 'real' technology just isnt on a par with CSI etc
Triangulation in a built up area is normally accurate to within 50 metres, it can be down to the metre depending on number of masts in contactable range, but if not then it's a big old area!
Contact the network provider, have the phone blocked, get a new phone, either on insurance or buy a new one, and put it behind you.
To emphasise what others have already said, do NOT meet this person unless it's in the lobby of a police station! You don't know what you could be letting yourself in for. There are some nasty people about who have some funny ideas about "respect" that usually involves knives. It's not worth the risk. Tell them to drop it into a police station, to leave their name and you'll ensure that they get the £50 as a "reward" for finding it.