Juice Jacking: Public Charging Ports and Rigged Cables through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

The app is the scammer's way in: it can read what is on the screen, collect contacts and push you to pay. Juice Jacking: Public Charging Ports and Rigged Cables is one of the ways this shows up: Can a public USB port or a gifted cable steal data from your phone? See what is real, what is rare and how to charge safely at stations and airports.

What juice jacking: public charging ports and rigged cables looks like through an app

• A screen-sharing or remote-control app that a caller asks you to install.
• A loan app that asks for contacts and photos.
• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.

A USB cable carries both power and data. A rigged port or cable can be built to ask your phone to start a data connection as well as charge it. If your phone is unlocked and you tap 'allow' on a prompt about file transfer or trust, software on the other end can try to read files or push an app. Modern phones show a prompt first, which is why the dangerous moment is the tap.

Red flags to check on the app

• A charging point asks your phone to allow file transfer or trust the device.
• A person urges you to tap 'allow' to charge faster.
• A cable is handed to you as a free gift by someone you do not know.
• A free-charging offer comes with a QR code or app download.
• You were told to install it by a stranger or a caller.
• It has few or odd reviews, or a name with spelling changes.

What to do

1. Carry your own charger and plug it into a normal wall socket when possible.
2. Use a power bank for travel, so you do not need public ports.
3. If you must use a USB port, choose 'charge only' and deny any data or trust prompt.
4. Do not install it. If it is installed, uninstall it now (Settings, Apps).
5. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
6. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. If you paid or shared card details for a charging offer, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.
2. Call your bank through the number on your card and ask to block the card if you typed it.
3. Remove any app that was installed and change passwords from a different device.
4. Review your phone for unknown apps and permissions, and restart it.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Phone scan in Safeavio Sentinel reviews installed apps, permissions and risky settings such as unknown sources and developer mode, which helps you notice if something strange was installed. QR check shows where a charging-offer code leads before you open it. Safeavio cannot detect a rigged cable and cannot see what a charging port does, so the best defence is your own charger or a power bank.

Full guide: Juice Jacking: Public Charging Ports and Rigged Cables: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: social media, SMS, QR code.

Questions