STOP Charging Your Mobiles At Public Places; Here’s WHY

Cybercriminals and fraudsters have come up with a novel technique to steal all the information from your devices and they would be doing it from the most unexpected points.

Written by: India.com News Desk Edited by: Tahir Qureshi

Published: September 25, 2022, 4:44 PM IST

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STOP Charging Your Mobiles At Public Places; Here’s WHY

Stay cyber safe: Cybercriminals and fraudsters are devising new ways to fleece you by hacking into the data and other sensitive information from your gadgets like smartphones, laptops, and desktops. Now they have come up with a novel technique to steal all the information from your devices and they would be doing it from the most unexpected points, in both proverbial and literal terms.

You must have seen and also used the charging points or USB ports at airports, bus stops, metro trains, and other places that let you charge the batteries of your mobile phones or laptops. Now, this is the catch. Cybercriminals and fraudsters can now get into your devices and steal your data via charging points and USB ports.

The CEO of a company in Hyderabad suffered a loss of Rs 16 lakh. Actually, he was charging his mobile through a USB port in a public place. Later it was found that 16 lakh rupees were siphoned off from his account.

In another instance, a woman from New Delhi made a similar complaint. Her phone battery got low at the Delhi airport. After this, she put the phone for charging at the USB charging station present at the airport. After a few hours, a message came on her mobile in which she came to know that Rs 1 lakh 20 thousand was withdrawn from her bank account.

Who could have thought that the public utility tools could be turned into a weapon to cheat unsuspecting people?

In fact, on September 15, Odisha Police posted a tweet that read, “Don’t charge your mobiles at public places like mobile charging station, USB power station etc. Cyber fraudsters are trying to steal your personal information from mobile and installing the malware inside your phone. #StayCyberSafe”

Don’t charge your mobiles at public places like mobile charging station, USB power station etc. Cyber fraudsters are trying to steal your personal information from mobile and installing the malware inside your phone. #StayCyberSafe pic.twitter.com/CubCnYlJn7

— Odisha Police (@odisha_police) September 15, 2022

Further to this primary information, we will try to get experts and learn more about what this phenomenon is and how we can stay safe.