Rant: A hotel in Denver made me stop using public Wi-Fi for anything important

I was checking my bank account on the hotel's free Wi-Fi last month, you know, just a quick login. The page loaded weird and asked for my password again, which seemed off. I closed everything and checked my phone's hotspot settings, finding the hotel network had a nearly identical fake name right next to the real one. That fake network was a setup to catch people who weren't paying close attention. Now I use my own mobile data for any logins when I'm traveling, no exceptions. Has anyone else spotted a sketchy network like that in a public place?

3 comments

3 Comments

sagesingh3mo ago

Honestly sounds like you got pretty lucky catching that. Tbh I feel like most public wifi is fine if you're just browsing regular sites.

tessap983mo ago

Glad you noticed that before anything bad happened, that's seriously scary. I had a similar chill down my spine at an airport once, saw a weird extra network name. Makes you realize how easy it is to get lazy and just click connect. Your rule about only using mobile data for logins is totally the way to go now, no question.

julia_fisher2828d ago

That's a solid hack, honestly - mobile data for logins makes total sense since it cuts out the middleman (or the bad guy in this case). For me, I started carrying a cheap travel router that I set up to only connect to known, trusted networks so my devices don't auto-pounce on random wifi names. It sounds extra but it's saved me from a few close calls, especially in crowded spots like coffee shops.