Beware Of Free Public Charging Plugs At Malls, Hotels, Airports- FBI Warns Consumers

The United States law enforcement agency  Federal Bureau of Investigations  FBI, says consumers should avoid using public chargers at malls and airports, and stick to their own USB cables and charging plugs.

FBI in recent warnings to consumers against using free public charging stations, saying crooks have managed to hijack public chargers that can infect devices with malware, or software that can give hackers access to your phone, tablet or computer.

a tweet from the FBI’s Denver field office said. “Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers,” “Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.”

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The FBI offers similar guidance on its website to avoid public chargers. The bulletin didn’t point to any recent instances of consumer harm from juice jacking. The FBI’s Denver field office said the message was meant as an advisory, and that there was no specific case that prompted it.

The Federal Communications Commission has also warned about “juice jacking,” as the malware loading scheme is known, since 2021.

Consumer devices with compromised USB cables can be hijacked through software that can then siphon off usernames and passwords, the FCC warned at the time. The commission told consumers to avoid those public stations.