This £339 'anti 5G' device turned out to be a £5 USB key with a sticker on it

A BBC News investigation has discovered that a £339 USB key that claims to block “magneto-electric fog” supposedly caused by 5G networks, is nothing more than a £5 USB device with a sticker attached.

Tech reporter Rory Cellan-Jones pulled apart the ‘5G BioShield’ recommended by a UK town councillor as an apparent protection measure against 5G waves.

The BioShield retails at £339.60, including VAT, although a ‘special offer’ can see lucky customers bag three for just £958.80.

The device is marketed by makers as: “the result of the most advanced technology currently available for balancing and prevention of the devastating effects caused by non-natural magneto-electric waves, particularly (but not limited to) 5G, for all biological life forms”.

Among its claims, the BioShield is supposed to “balance the imbalanced electric oscillations arising from all magneto-electric fog induced by all devices such as: laptops, cordless phones, wlan, tablets, etc”.

Fancy.

It’s a favourite of Toby Hall, one of several members of an advisory committee who produced a report after a six-month investigation into the effects of 5G, despite repeated and weary assertions from scientists that the technology is totally safe.

Hall told BBC News that he “uses the device and finds it helpful”.

Perhaps it may be helpful when it comes to storing files, but after pulling it apart, BBC News concluded the stick was nothing more than a bogstandard USB stick, with only 128MB of storage available to boot.

So what elevates the price of the stick from £5 to over £300? A small sticker, which technology expert Ken Munro described as looking “remarkably like one available in sheets from stationery suppliers for less than a penny each”.

Advice for usage on the BioShield website informs customers that they can carry the stick in their “pocket or purse” without charging and still feel the benefit.

It also warns that:

Our conclusions are based on knowledge, right measurements and right interpretations.

There is no measurable effect in terms of protection from the  5GBioShield USB key.

When informed of the BBC’s findings, Toby Hall said he “no regrets” about buying the device – presumably as he now has somewhere to put (a limited number of) his PDFs.

London Trading Standards has since launched an investigation into the company behind the device.