That fake charging cable I bought at a gas station nearly fried my phone

Last week I stopped at a Shell station in Ohio and grabbed a USB-C cable for $8 because I forgot mine. Plugged it in at home and my phone started smoking within 2 minutes. How do you even tell if a random cable is safe before you use it?

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2 Comments

logan6485mo ago

Dude that is literally what happened to me with a gas station cable in Indiana. I grabbed one of those $6 Lightning cables from a Pilot station and my phone got so hot the screen actually warped a little. The plastic on the connector melted into the port and I had to dig it out with a toothpick. Now I keep a real cable in my glovebox at all times. If it doesn't come in a sealed box with a brand name on it, I'd rather just wait until I get home to charge.

7

hugos675mo ago

Yep that tracks with almost every cheap accessory I've seen. It's wild how people will drop $800 on a phone and then trust a $6 cable from a gas station not to fry it.

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