Do Not Charge Your Mobile Phones At Public Places, Warns Odisha Police

Bhubaneswar: Charging your phone or any other device at free USB port charging stations, such as those found near airport gates, shopping malls, hotels, and other travel-friendly locations, could land you in certain unfortunate circumstances. You could easily become a victim of “juice jacking,” a new cyber-theft tactic.

Odisha Police has also issued a warning regarding this on social media.

“Do not charge your mobile phones 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,” Wrote the Odisha Police on Twitter.

It is not for the first time that Odisha has tweeted such information to create awareness among people.

On September 4, Odisha Police tweet had appealed people to remain cautious as the fraudsters always attempt to access your SIM card or duplicate it. The simple reason is the fact that all the accounts of people are linked with their registered mobile phone numbers. The Odisha Police tweet read, “Fraudsters often call you pretending to be a mobile operator staff and try to convince you with SIM upgrades or benefits. So be aware & stay cyber_safe.”

What is Juice Jacking?

Juice jacking is a type of cyber fraud using an infected USB charging station to compromise connected devices. The cyber attack can take advantage of the fact that a cell phone’s power supply passes over the same USB cable the connected device uses to sync data. According to cybersecurity experts, criminals can load malware onto public USB charging stations to maliciously access electronic mobile devices while they are being charged at open charging stations.

One must note that not only open charging stations but you can also become a victim of online fraud when you’re using a public Wi-Fi network while traveling.