LAKEVIEW — Police are reminding Chicagoans not to give their phones to strangers after people were scammed near Wrigley Field.
During the scam, someone asks a passerby to send them money online through apps such as Venmo, officials said. The passerby gives the person their phone to type in their Venmo account’s name so they can donate money — but the person then transfers a much larger sum of money to themselves without permission, officials said.
Police in the Lakeview and Wrigley Field area asked bar owners to warn customers about the trend during a meeting last week, according to Ald. Tom Tunney (44th)’s office.
People can avoid the scam by not giving their personal property — such as a phone — to people they don’t know, officials said.
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