Thousands of power strips sold on Amazon are getting the plug pulled — for a seriously scary reason.
Roughly 5,543 CCCEI-branded power strips have been recalled after safety officials warned they could spark a fire — and not the cozy, candlelit kind.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the alert on March 26, flagging the devices as a potential hazard that could lead to “serious injury or death.”
The culprit? A missing safety feature known as supplementary overcurrent protection — essentially the strip’s built-in defense against overheating when you’ve got one too many gadgets fighting for juice.
Without it, overloading the strip could turn your charging station into a fire starter.
The products warned about were sold on the e-commerce site between April 2024 and January 2026, typically priced between $23 and $30 — a bargain that could come with a dangerous catch.
The recalled strips — sold by Middle Way Electronics — come with 6-foot, 10-foot and 15-foot cords, housed in a black metal casing with six outlets and individual on/off switches.
If that setup sounds familiar, it might be time to take a closer look.
So far, there have been two reported incidents of the strips sparking and melting — yikes — though, thankfully, no fires or injuries have been reported.
Consumers are being urged to stop using the power strips immediately and reach out to Middle Way Electronics for a full refund.
Moral of the story: when it comes to powering your devices, don’t let a cheap strip spark a costly mistake.
But before you go panic-clicking any “recall notice” that lands in your inbox or texts, beware — not all alerts are the real deal.
As The Post previously reported, scammers are increasingly posing as retailers like Amazon, sending phony recall notices designed to trick shoppers into handing over personal information.
Consumer Reports recently flagged the growing scheme after one mom of three, Taylor Frost Smith, received a text claiming to be an “Amazon Product Recall Notice” for a past purchase.
The message urged her to click a link for refund details — but something didn’t add up.
“First thing I noticed is that it’s only for 18 people from Amazon,” she said, realizing it felt off.
Instead of tapping the link, Smith went straight to the Amazon app and checked the order herself — only to learn there was no recall at all. The message? A phishing scam.
That’s exactly what fraudsters are banking on: a sense of urgency that gets you to click first and think later.
Experts say the safest move is to never click links in unsolicited messages.
Instead, head directly to the retailer’s official website or app to verify any recall claims.
Shoppers can also check trusted sources like recalls.gov or the CPSC’s website for legitimate alerts.
In most cases, registered products will trigger official recall notices via email or even old-school mail — not random texts.
The warning comes as text-based scams are surging.
A recent cyber readiness report found attempts have jumped 50% in the past year, with younger consumers especially at risk.
Bottom line: this recall is real — but the scams piggybacking off fears like it are just as dangerous.
