Public wifi at the airport almost got me last Tuesday

I was stuck at O'Hare for a 3 hour layover and connected to the free 'BOS-Guest' network to check email. Ten minutes later my bank app locked me out and I got a fraud alert about a weird login from another state. Turns out that wifi might've been a spoofed network set up right next to the real one. Now I only use my phone hotspot in terminals, even if my data plan screams about the overage. Has anyone else gotten hit by a fake airport wifi trap?

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johnflores29d ago

I got burned at a Denver terminal two years back, same deal, fake network named almost the same as the real one. What saved me was setting my phone to ask before joining any open network, so it just stops and waits instead of hopping on by itself. I also turned off auto-connect for every free wifi I ever used, and that alone killed the problem. For banking I just use the cell network now and skip wifi completely. It costs a little more data but it beats spending a weekend changing passwords and calling the bank. Takes about two minutes in settings and you never think about it again.

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