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My hotel in Austin had a public wifi sign-in that made me rethink everything
I was at a conference there last month and the login page looked exactly like the hotel's real site, but my phone flagged it as a fake. I mean, it had the right logo and everything, but the address was off by one letter. Now I always check the full web address before I type anything, even if it looks safe. Does anyone else have a simple trick to spot these fake login pages fast?
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spencer_park261mo ago
Wait, you said your phone flagged it as fake? That's a great start, but honestly I don't trust those warnings to catch everything. My trick is to never actually type my password on those public pages. If I need wifi, I'll just put in fake info first to see if it even works. A lot of times the real hotel wifi doesn't need a real login at all, it just opens. If it asks for a room number, that's a bit safer, but I still look at that address bar like a hawk.
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nancyj111mo ago
Wow, so you just type fake passwords first? What happens if the fake one actually works?
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tara64226d ago
Read something in a security blog that said scammers actually buy up domains that are one letter off from real hotels or airports. So you might get an email or see a sign that says "Free Wi-Fi at Marriot" and not even notice the missing 't' until it's too late. My rule now is I open my phone's browser and manually type the address myself instead of ever clicking a link or scanning those QR codes on the wall. Also, saw a tip that if the wifi login asks for your email, just make one up completely. Like flargleblarg@fake.com. If it's a real setup, it'll still connect you. If it's a trap, they just got garbage data.
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