Cyber-criminals in Australia are banking on people's instinctive urge to plug in USB sticks, posting malware-infected memory sticks in mailboxes across Victoria.
The devious ploy has now forced Victoria Police to issue a warning, saying "the USB drives are believed to be extremely harmful and members of the public are urged to avoid plugging them into their computers or other devices".
According to police, the USB sticks contain fraudulent media streaming service offers and other malware, Motherboard reported.
The masterminds behind this booby-trap ploy may well have read a recent study published by the University of Illinois, which found that at least 48 per cent of people will pick up a random USB stick, plug it into their computer and open files on it.