The Mercury News reports on a surprising new attack vector based on mobile phones:

Four males allegedly affiliated with the “500 Block,” a South San Francisco Norteño street gang, allegedly assaulted and robbed the first victim in San Bruno over the weekend. They then used the phone to send a text message to lure the first victim’s friend to a meeting place to rob him of his Apple i-Phone, valued at $400, according to police.

At about 2 a.m. Saturday, a San Bruno resident received a text message from a friend’s cell phone to meet in a South San Francisco business in the 200 block of El Camino Real, according to police. He was immediately assaulted and robbed, police report.

Do you trust your friends to lock their phones from intruders? Or, perhaps more importantly, can you identify your friends when they text you from their phones, given the limited format? Perhaps a voice call would be a good way to verify meetings in shady places.