Carrie lives in the city and often finds herself in crowded places such as subways and airports. She passes the time traveling by scrolling on her phone. One day, Carrie was on a bus when a notification popped up on her phone. It was an AirDrop requesting to send her a file. Carrie didn’t realize she had her share settings open to everyone. She didn’t know the sender but out of curiosity, she accepted the file.
The file was nothing special. It had data related to a company Carrie was not familiar with. She clicked around on the file, and it opened a strange link. Carrie closed out of the file and the link and assumed it was sent to her by mistake. But really, it carried malware that worked its way through her device. Over the next few days, her phone began to behave erratically, with apps crashing and battery life draining unusually fast. Carrie ignored the signs, assuming she just needed a new phone.
Did you spot the red flags?
- Carrie should have had AirDrop turned off when not in use or set to private. Some use AirDrop to send inappropriate photos or malicious files.
- When Carrie started noticing her phone acting erratically, she should have scanned her device with a trusted antivirus app.
What you should know about this scam
AirDrop has had issues in the past with vulnerabilities, allowing cybercriminals to see a user’s phone number or email address. Keep devices updated to make sure any security vulnerabilities are patched as soon as possible.
AirDrop on Apple devices and Nearby Share on Android devices let users send pictures or files without an internet connection. They use Bluetooth and create a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network. Keep these sharing features private or off when not in use, and only accept files from trusted contacts.