Forget snow storms—the holidays present the perfect conditions for a storm of scams. Think about it: we’re all busy, distracted, and doing nearly every activity frequently targeted by cyber scammers. In just a handful of weeks we’re reading oodles of emails, planning travel, shopping online, giving to charity, and receiving lots of packages. Just like you prepare for real-life storms, you need to be ready for this flurry of potential scam activity.

Unfortunately for all of us, our mental image of the typical phishing scammer is not even close to reality. You probably think of a person sitting in dark room in front of multiple glowing computer screens, furiously writing code to craft their attack. According to a new security report from Akamai, this is picture is pretty much totally wrong.

There’s a new potential security threat cloaked in an innocent-looking package: the charging cable. The cord that came with your device isn’t the problem. After-market cables, or the one left on the table at Starbucks, or that one you borrow from that nice stranger? Stop right there! Get the scoop on what to watch for so you can stay safe.