SBI Alert! Do you charge your smartphone in these places? Beware, fraudsters can steal your money; save yourself, do this

The State Bank of India (SBI) has warned its account holders about Malwarebytes present at mobile charging stations at various public places. The largest Indian commercial bank informed its customers in a tweet citing Malware could find a way into and infect your smartphone, giving online fraudsters or hackers a chance to steal your passwords and data, which includes your highly confidential bank details. According to the cyber crime experts, hackers are doing this through a mix of malware, phishing and algorithms that enable them to execute the process of stealing of confidential data of the mobile owner. This is done through an innocuous enough data card called 'Auto Data Transfer Device' that is easily available at the cost of $300 to $400 on Alibaba website.

See SBI tweet below:

Think twice before you plug in your phone at charging stations. Malware could find a way in and infect your phone, giving hackers a way to steal your passwords and export your data.#SBI #Malware #CyberAttack #CustomerAwareness #Cybercrime #SafeBanking #JuiceJacking pic.twitter.com/xzSMNNNv4U

— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) December 7, 2019

Informing SBI customers about the online fraud happening at mobile charging stations SBI tweeted this message: "Think twice before you plug in your phone at charging stations. Malware could find a way in and infect your phone, giving hackers a way to steal your passwords and export your data."

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Elaborating upon the Malware bytes that helps online fraudsters steal smartphone owners' passwords and other important data, Amit Dubey, a New Delhi-based cyber crime expert said, "Online fraudsters use a plug-in card called 'Auto Data Transfer Device' behind the mobile charging port that one can easily notice when he or she would plug-in one's mobile phone. If there is a skimming card, you will get a pop-up after connecting your mobile to the charger. Generally, people click on the yes button without reading the message and this is the beginning of stealing of passwords and other data from your mobile phone. When you plug-in your mobile with the charging cable, you don't get any pop-up, if there is a pop-up, it means there is some problem. So, avoid charging your mobile phones from such mobile charging stations." 

Dubey said that the device that an online fraudster uses to steal your data are bought from the website of Alibaba, where it is available from $300 to $400 and it comes mainly from China. It looks like a pen drive and hence customs staff finds it difficult to classify this tool used for online financial frauds.

Pawan Duggal, another cyber crime expert based in New Delhi said, "To avoid this mix of malware, phishing and algorithm attack at mobile charging stations, one needs to either avoid charging one's mobile from the multi-cable and try using the socket directly. One needs to download anti-malware software on one's phone that would negate any chances of malware bytes at any place. This anti-malware software is available free of cost and can be found with a single Google search."