Man arrested for committing cybercrime via fake Wi-Fi – Firstpost

Australian authorities have charged a 42-year-old Western Australian man for allegedly installing fake Wi-Fi networks on domestic flights and at airports.

According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), these fake networks impersonated legitimate networks in order to steal personal information from gullible travelers.

The man was due to appear in court in Perth on Friday to answer to nine cybercrime charges.

News Corp Australia reports that a 42-year-old man has been charged by police with using a device that allegedly generated “evil twin” replicas of authentic Wi-Fi networks at various locations, including airports in Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as on domestic flights.

Users say that when they tried to connect their devices to the network, they were redirected to a fake website and asked to log in using their social media credentials or email address.

According to authorities, this data was then allegedly saved onto the man’s devices and could have been used to obtain further private data, such as the victim’s bank account information, stored photos and videos, and online correspondence.

When airline staff noticed a suspicious Wi-Fi network on a domestic flight in April, they reported the fraud to police.

As reported by the news portal, AFP Western Command Cybercrime Inspector Andrea Coleman said internet users should always exercise caution when logging onto public Wi-Fi networks.

“To connect to the free Wi-Fi network, you don’t have to provide any personal information – such as logging in with your email or social media account. When using a public network, turn off file sharing, don’t do anything sensitive – such as banking – while connected to it, and when you’re done using it, change your device settings to “forget network,” she said.

“We also recommend turning off Wi-Fi on your phone or other electronic devices before going to a public place to prevent your device from automatically connecting to the hotspot.”