The UK is cracking down on sales of fraudulent ‘anti-5G’ USB sticks

London’s Trading Standards office, along with City of London police, are attempting to stop the sale of a device a company claims can protect people against the supposed dangers of 5G spectrum. Stephen Knight, operations director for London Trading Standards, told the BBC it considers the device, a £283 (approximately $349) USB stick called the 5GBioShield, "a scam." The agency, which is responsible for protecting consumers and businesses in London, is working with the city's police department to obtain a court order to take down the website of the company that sells the USB stick.   

On its website (pictured below), BioShield Distribution claims the key "provides protection for your home and family, thanks to the wearable holographic nano-layer catalyzer..." It goes on to claim "through a process quantum oscillation, the 5GBioShield USB key re-harmonizes the disturbing frequencies arising from the electric fog induced by devices, such as laptops, cordless phones..." 

After tearing down the device, Pen Test Partners, a company that takes apart consumer electronics to test them for security vulnerabilities, found there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the USB key. It comes with a modest 128MB capacity, an inexpensive sticker and a 25-page PDF that repeats much of the material found on the company's website. 

Sales of the 5GBioShield USB key started to pick up when one of the external members of Glastonbury's 5G Advisory Committee mentioned the device. "We use this device and find it helpful," they wrote and included a link to BioShield's website. The report's credibility came into question after the BBC published a story detailing its creation. It appears many of the people who worked on the report went into it with a biased opinion of 5G. What’s more, the committee admitted testimony from a variety of psuedo-scientific sources, including a professor who claims wireless signals will make human beings sterile.  

"I joined the working group in good faith, expecting to take part in a sensible discussion about 5G," said Mark Swann, one of the people who volunteered to help compile the report. "Sadly the whole thing turned out to be a clueless pantomime driven by conspiracy theorists and skeptics."

Despite the best efforts of carriers like EE, 02 and Vodafone, as well as local authorities, anti-5G sentiment in the UK has grown recently. In April, arsonists torched cellular towers in several parts of the country in attacks authorities believe may be linked to conspiracy theories linking the proliferation of 5G masts to the spread of COVID-19. With this latest development in the story, you have a classic example of a company trying to profit from fear.