Wi-Fi Users Warned Of Scam

By Steve Sbraccia
General Assignment Reporter
WNCN-TV

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Computer users around the country are being enticed by offers of free wireless Internet access, or wi-fi. However, what they get for free may end up costing them more than they ever bargained for.

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The Better Business Bureau is issuing a warning tonight about a free wi-fi scam that is occurring all over the country, pulling in scores of unwary computer users.

The bureau says crooks are targeting airports around the country with fake wi-fi systems to grab sensitive, personal information.

Unlike legitimate networks offered by coffee shops and the like, the phony services take a detour. They send your wireless signal thru the crook's personal computer where the suspects then monitor your information so they can steal what they need. It's called a peer-to-peer or ad hoc connection.

Health care consultant Dominique Burzacchi is a big wi-fi user. Sitting in Terminal A at RDU Tuesday afternoon, she said she worried about using those so-called ad-hoc networks.

“One of the things I do is look at the wireless network,” she said, “sometimes it comes up as computer to computer rather than an actual network. That is something important to check.”

The bureau says fake wi-fi networks are usually labeled free wi-fi or something similar with the word free in it. That was a red flag that bothered one travler who had just returned from a recent trip to Florida.

“I was in the hotel there and had to pay $9.95 a day for internet access. But when I went to the airport, it was free,” said Bobby Wilson of Durham.

RDU officials said they haven't heard of the scammers working in this area. But even though the airport is clean, travelers like Dominique Burzacchi worry because she moves around the country a lot.

“It's something I will definitely have to go ask my I.T. folks about to make sure the security we have on our laptops protects us even if we're using wi-fi,” she said.