Early this morning I was busy at work from the lobby/Starbucks of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver for a few hours, enjoying a cup of coffee and setting up some appointments for later in the week when I will be back in the office. The sun had just risen, and I was enjoying watching the city of Vancouver come to life, when I was abruptly jolted from my musings by a voice to my left:
“Excuse me, may I charge my phone from your laptop?”
I know my eyes must have widened. Thoughts of malicious software racing through the circuitry of my MacBook pro passed through my mind at lightning speed. The man with phone and USB cable in hand was labeled “immediate threat” as air raid sirens went off inside my brain.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I replied with a very curt, “No, thank you.” The guy looked a little taken aback, but there was no way on earth that I would let him charge an unknown device from my computer. Had he wanted to simply plug it in the outlet next to my knee, I would have be more than willing. There are a lot of helpful things I am willing to do for people, but this is certainly not one of them.
Looking back, I suppose I should have said, “Sorry, no, sorry”, since I am currently in Canada. A few minutes later I did feel slightly bad, but I still felt more than justified in my response. I probably could have been slightly less rude-sounding, but I was totally taken aback by what seemed like an unheard of request.
This was honestly one of the weirdest encounters I have had in a while. I’ve had my share of fighting for an outlet at a coffee shop or airport, but I would never dream of asking to charge anything from someone else’s device.
Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Nope. I would say no as well. Too risky to have a stranger potentially have access to my private files.
Yeah, that’s a little strange. I let someone use my phone charger at the hospital once, but the biggest risk there would be him taking my $10 charger. Sharing your data and information would be much riskier. (Btw, he gave me the charger back, the majority of people are honest!)
You did the right thing
Made the right call!
Sounds like he was missing the power plug and simply needed to charge his phone. I think that you did wrong. The only way malicious software could have made its way onto your computer was if he was intentionally trying to do so. He would also need custom software, the kind of stuff that you can’t just download. No, that’s high level hacker custom, someone working for the NSA or Russia might have that ability. So if you generally believe that you are a target of those types then there is a incredibly slight possibility that that could potentially be the case. But seems like you are just a douche.
I’m making this post not for the sake of being contrarian, but for the sake of anyone who might read through this and think that the comment you made is entirely correct and bases their decision in such a situation on your comment.
No, this would not require advanced-level hacking. Running an auto-execute script from a USB isn’t entirely difficult, and while rare, is certainly a possibility in this scenario. It’s remarkably easy to intrude a laptop with nothing more than a clever excuse and access to a USB port. Don’t let anyone you don’t trust have access to your USB ports.
Thanks Rob – I think this validates the point of the original post!
Right call!!!
Your refusal was definitely justified (on computer security grounds). I often bring a portable USB/battery charger that I might have lent to the person if they were nice, but giving a stranger access to your computer’s USB port is a no-no.
What’s the point of comments if you disallow all dissenting view points? No potential for harm means that you are just a mean person.
Philip – all (most) comments are automatically moderated. Since you commented at midnight (my time), I was asleep. That (and not because I’m a mean person) why your comments didn’t originally show up
As someone who is knowledgeable about computers I can honestly say that your concerns are unfounded.
Unfounded? Not at all. Unlikely? Sure.
It’s _unlikely_ that anything malicious would have happened by letting the guy plugin the USB cord, but it’s entirely _possible_ that the device could have caused harm. USB is HORRIBLE from a security standpoint.
Of course you can charge your phone on my laptop. While we’re friends, can I use your credit card to perform a verification check on this adult website?
For many non-IT people, the USB port is where the electricity comes from. They probably had a cable, but no wart. So this request was likely not an
outrageous one from THEIR perspective.
I’d have happily given such person access to a wall-wart. I usually have several in my messenger bag, and the small 1-Ampish devices I have too many of and don’t even care if I get them back.
Why feel sorry? You are supposed to say no.
Rather like unsolicited unprotected sex. No, thank you!
That the tech equivlent of a stranger asking to rub sunscreen on their back. Probaly harmless but still kinda creepy. Maybe a better response would have been to suggest he ask the front desk for a charger but still your response was understandable.
@Dm – My concerns may be unfounded as far as computer security goes. Not my forte. I wasn’t going to take a chance with the unknown, though. He was probably harmless…..it was just such an weird request.
I do wish I would have had a portable charger for him. Normally, I have one on me when traveling, but I had walked downstairs with only my laptop and its charging cable.
You can do harm to his phone rather than the phone do to your macbook. What kind of malware or virus that effect your laptop? Autorun? Pfff…
By the way, it is your choice.
You’re likely right, it is more likely that the computer would slurp data off of the phone or otherwise cause malicious activity. But even without autorun enabled it is possible to infect a host computer via plugging in a usb device. USB was not designed with security in mind and is horrible from a security point of view. There is NO effective way for the average user to prevent someone with malicious intent from infecting or otherwise gaining control of a computer once an unknown USB device is plugged in. Is it likely that an average stranger is going to do harm to your computer? No. Possible? Yes.
I agree. You did the right thing and even if your response may have sounded rude….it was an odd request that caught you off guard. It’s ok.
I wouldn’t have let them do it either. It’s like a complete stranger asking me to use my cell phone say on the street. If it was an emergency, I’d make the call for them and have on an occasion. But just let someone call? They may run off with the phone and then where am I?
Everyone is thinking about this guy as potentially doing a one-off malicious attack… what if this is his job? He goes around and takes advantage of people’s kindness letting him hook his phone up, then launches his attack which leads to lost data, a locked computer, or some degree of extortion for money.
Although I agree that he’s likely just someone who needed a little juice for his phone, I think Ian is 100% in the right to deny him and I respect his quick thinking as I likely would have fallen victim to the social engineering and gotten myself in trouble.
I’ve been on the other side. Had my laptop stolen while on an international trip. I didn’t have a charger for my iPhone since I was charging off the laptop. Had to ask a nice stranger at the Admiral’s Club to help me out. He graciously agreed, as would I if asked.
A recent article on CNN Money titled “Please stop charging your phone in public ports” is worth a read. Excerpt:
“Public charging stations and wi-fi access points are found in places like airports, planes, conference centers and parks, so people can always have access to their phones and data. But connecting your phone to an unknown port has its risks.
The cord you use to charge your phone is also used to send data from your phone to other devices. For instance, when you plug your iPhone into your Mac with the charging cord, you can download photos from your phone to your computer.
If a port is compromised, there’s no limit to what information a hacker could take, Paik explained.
That includes your email, text messages, photos and contacts. It’s called “juice jacking,” a term coined by researchers back in 2011. Last year, the same researchers demonstrated “video jacking,” using hacked ports and your phone’s video display to record everything you type and look at.”