Billions of Android and iPhone users warned of risky mistake we’ve ALL made – three ways to stay safe

SMARTPHONE owners in need of power when out and about have been warned that free public chargers could put you at risk of sneaky hackers.

The FBI recently cautioned people against the popular practice often seen in airports and shopping centres.

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Standard plugs are fine – but direct to USB connections carry a risk[/caption]

Fraudsters could use it to spread dodgy malware onto your iPhone or Android device.

The scheme is officially known as “juice jacking”.

But experts from NordVPN have revealed there are three ways to keep yourself safe.

Get a power bank

Your own power bank won’t spread anything malicious onto your smartphone.

So it’s a good idea to charge with that.

You could even treat your power bank as a middleman, using a public spot to charge that, before using the power bank to charge your phone, as it won’t be able to pass anything from the power bank to your phone that way.

Use a power socket instead

Attacks can only happen when you’re connected to a USB charging point.

Ordinary plugs can’t transfer anything.

So take the full wire and plug with you and charge that way in public instead.

Use a USB data blocker

A USB data blocker is a device that protects your phone from juice jacking when you’re using a public charging station.

It plugs into the charging port on your phone and acts as a shield between the public charging station’s cord and your device.

You can get them pretty cheap on Amazon, such as this two pack for £9.

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