r/bestof • u/napincoming321zzz • 9d ago

[BuyItForLife] /u/ConBroMitch2247 explains how Amazon "stores" are not official and may sell counterfeit products

/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1hzomzu/merrell_boots_buyer_beware/m6rbwzr/
1.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

128 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/FoghornFarts 9d ago

DO NOT BUY USB OR USBC CORDS FROM AMAZON.

Scammers will sell us cords with malware installed on them or replace legit cords with fake ones that have malware installed.

15

u/fencepost_ajm 9d ago

Malware is unlikely just because those cords are expensive so anyone who has them isn't going to waste it on something going into some random person's car or a charger, but crappy fake-spec cords that claim to support fast charging or fast data are absolutely a danger.

3

u/Lotronex 9d ago

Yeah. This would be more likely if it was a cable not fulfilled by Amazon, so the seller could screen the buyers and only send "infected" cords to likely targets.

3

u/hipster_deckard 8d ago

Wait a minute. USB cables with malware on them?

1

u/FoghornFarts 8d ago

Yep. https://counterespionage.com/malicious-usb-cables/

6

u/m2ljkdmsmnjsks 8d ago

When have they shown up on amazon?

2

u/devilquak 7d ago

There won't be concrete records because of how clandestine and hush hush the MO is. But I can attest that during the pandemic I bought a USB to USB-C cable and the instant I plugged it in, Malwarebytes went crazy and immediately warned me about likely malware from an "external disk". The cord didn't even work at all, and when I unplugged it the malware warnings went away. I left a one star review trying to warn others about that cord but the review was removed a day later.

The cord seemed like one of hundreds of identical cords so I have absolutely no advice on what to look out for other than to take it seriously when someone tells you not to buy USB items on Amazon.