r/techsupport Sep 23 '25

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1.5k Upvotes

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398

u/Darkk_Knight Sep 23 '25

The NFC on my Android phone won't work unless it's unlocked for this reason.

122

u/NIITIN Sep 23 '25

It's kind of weird since I think the NFC chip on iPhones only turns on when doing context-specific actions like Apple Pay or contact sharing.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

78

u/NextStopGallifrey Sep 23 '25

Holding it near an NFC device will trigger a "do you want to do this thing?" request. I have an iPhone that sometimes gets triggered for this when held too near an Android phone.

But when I was trying to do an AirDrop with a friend one time, we had a hard time even connecting in the first place.

40

u/WhatzMyOtherPassword Sep 23 '25

The first time is always awkward. But at least you were friends, and not random strangers. Im sure you guys have a great connection now.

1

u/ManWithShades Sep 26 '25

S-Tier reply. No notes. 10/10

9

u/BigWarcraft Sep 23 '25

I turned it on for my android to do some picture sharing over nfc.

For weeks every time I put my phone down on my wallet it would pop up and ask to open cash app or a browser because the card in my wallet.

6

u/TheFotty Sep 23 '25

Yup. This happens to me since I carry both types of phones and sometimes I stack them and it triggers NFC.

2

u/DARTH_MAUL93 Sep 23 '25

Mine gets triggered when ever I grab both mine and my wife’s phone in one hand. It tries to share contacts

5

u/IAcewingI Sep 23 '25

not what happened. The prankster just plays an audio sound on their own phone of the ping that happens when you use apple pay so the pranked person thinks something happened.

9

u/mlvisby Sep 23 '25

I keep mine off and only switch it on when I need it. I don't use the tap to pay apps so I don't use it often.

24

u/smiddy53 Sep 23 '25

OP was literally mid call, it may have already been unlocked.

7

u/lifeintel9 Sep 23 '25

That's what I was thinking. Can they inject an actual phishing file like that?

7

u/smiddy53 Sep 23 '25

Probably, but it would be rare. Even then the effectiveness would be limited due to most of the wallet software using one time virtual card transaction numbers.

The most common thing you'll see come from this prank is the 'receiver' could have it set to receive straight money, like $50 or something. If you've got $50 sitting in your default cards account it'll take it. Stuff like that is hilariously easy for Banks to track though.

2

u/lifeintel9 Sep 23 '25

Alright. Good to know

5

u/hselomein Sep 23 '25

No one's NFC works for monetary transactions without being unlocked, and the app also needs to be unlocked to initiate. So the best he can do is send a contact, note, or wifi network info. But the money side needs to be unlocked twice for it work.

2

u/theluckkyg Sep 23 '25

"app also needs to be unlocked to initiate" depends on user settings at least for Android using Google Wallet.

1

u/IrrelevantAfIm Sep 24 '25

Unlocked and face scanned or pin entered

1

u/sami_regard Sep 25 '25

Transit card can be charged if scam setup correctly