Teen on scooter steals thousands from woman by using her phone, victim says

ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman said police are now searching for a teenager who used a money transfer app to rob her of thousands.

The 28-year-old woman said she was walking to meet friends for dinner in midtown when a teenager on an electric scooter approached her and asked to use her phone.

“I was in Midtown. I was walking to a restaurant to meet a couple friends for dinner and this teenager walked up to me and asked me to use his phone because he was lost because he was trying to meet up with his friend,” Vanessa Lira said.

But something didn't seem right.

“He kept putting the phone up to his ear and then going back and typing things and then doing that again,” Lira said.

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The teen eventually returned her phone, but Lira said it wasn’t the following morning she figured out what the teen did.

“I got a notice from my bank that there was overdraft on my account and I knew I had plenty of money for all the things I spent money on,”

That's when she realized that the teen had opened up the money transfer app Venmo and used it to send $2,500 to multiple friends.

“So, the person sent $1,500 to one account and then $1,000 to another account,” Lira told Seiden.

Lira said she forgot to log out of the app which gave the thief full access to her bank account.

Now she's hoping others will learn from her mistake and think twice before they lend a helping hand.

“I feel like I’m pretty smart. I know what I’m doing. I didn’t imagine that someone would look me in the eye and steal money from me while they’re talking to me," Lira said. “I just felt like I was trying to help someone, and I got punished for it.”

Police are calling this an ongoing investigation.

Although the transfers went through, Lira said her bank issued her a refund.

She told Seiden that she has done some digging on her own and believes one of the fraudulent transfers was sent to a high school student in Douglasville.

So far, no one has been arrested in this case.

Cox Media Group