PSA: That 'free' public WiFi hotspot at the coffee shop nearly stole my bank info

Last week I was at a Brew Haus in downtown Portland, needed to check my balance quick. Jumped on their free network, typed in my bank login, and got an error page. Something felt off so I looked closer at the network name, it was 'Brew_Haus_Free' but with a weird dash. Turns out someone set up a fake hotspot right next to the real one. Stopped at the bank that afternoon and they confirmed someone tried to pull $200 from my account. Has anyone else run into these lookalike WiFi traps around town?

2 comments

2 Comments

dianab6812h agoTop Commenter

That fake hotspot thing is scary, I always thought it was just paranoia.

johnson.lee6h ago

Honestly @dianab68, it's not paranoia when there's literally a fake network sitting three feet from the real one. But here's my question - did you notice if the fake network had a password or not? Because a lot of these scams skip the password screen entirely to make it look more legit, but real coffee shop WiFi almost always makes you accept terms or enter a code on a splash page. I got burned by one called "Starbucks_Guest" that had zero login screen, just let me straight onto the internet. That should've been my first red flag.