A young woman has captured the moment a man seemingly attempted to "steal" her cell phone as she was recording a video for TikTok.
The video in question shows social media user @5minwithaurea attempting to record herself on a subway platform as a train passed by - but rather than getting a cute clip, a seemingly opportunistic man can be seen picking up her cell phone.
Originally shared to Aurea's TikTok page, she wrote in a text box on the video: "I was making my TikTok videos on the NYC train and a very rude man wanted to steal my cell phone."
After getting her phone back from the man, the video then shows him - face mask pulled underneath his mouth - shouting at Aurea, claiming she was attempting to "set people up".
As Aurea boards the train, the man stands at the door and continues to shout at her. After the doors close, he flips her the finger.
Aurea later shared the video the Twitter, along with the caption: "I was by myself, the worst thing happened to me on the train in NYC.
"What I did was very dangerous, he could have had a weapon and he could hurt me, but I felt safe because there were people around looking at us, but I do not recommend doing this. What would you do?"
The video has since been viewed over 1 million times on TikTok, with many social media users taking to the comments section to share their thoughts on the altercation.
Many people sympathized with Aurea, with one person writing: "He's mad at you for not allowing him to steal your phone."
And another TikTokker wrote: "Setting people up? He was close enough to see you clearly place it on the floor [...] I'm glad it didn't turn out differently. Stay safe!"
A third commenter was annoyed by the fact nobody jumped to Aurea's defense.
"The fact that no one helped or stood up for you", they wrote, along with a couple of angry face emojis.
However, other social media users tried to place the blame on Aurea for putting her phone on the subway platform.
One person typed: "Are you visiting NY? [Cause] you lack street smarts."
Another added: "Girl you in the subway [...] shoulda known better."
But people were quick to shut down the victim-blaming, with one TikTokker by the name of Michael Datuin writing: "Yall blaming her doing this in NY as if other people arent the problem [sic]".
Another added: "It's simple. Don't grab what's not yours".
To be honest, I agree with that statement: it really is that simple.
But what do you think? Was the man attempting to steal Aurea's phone, or should she take some of the blame for choosing to leave it lying on the ground? Let us know in the comments section.
