WILL users of public charging points be exposed to fraud? According to the Los Angeles’ district attorney, it is possible because “they may contain dangerous malware”.
Such USB outlets can steal your data. This so-called “juice-jacking” attack involves criminals loading malware “on charging stations or cables they leave plugged in at the stations so they may infect the phones and other electronic devices of unsuspecting users”.
“The malware may lock the device or export data and passwords directly to the scammer,” the Los Angeles’ district attorney said.
However, there have been “no cases” of juice-jacking reported so far. A spokesperson said it had sent out an alert on juice jacking as part of “an ongoing fraud education campaign”.
