Millions warned of World Cup Wi-Fi scam after White House says they're preparing for 'unprecedented' security risk
The World Cup is bigger than ever this year with 48 teams competing to claim football's biggest prize, yet fans have been warned about a dangerous Wi-Fi scam that could compromise your security if you're not careful, as public connections might not be as secure as they initially seem.
Whether you're cheering on your team at the pub with your friends, at a designated watch party, or at one of the 16 host stadiums across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, there's a good chance you'll want to stay up to date with scores from other World Cup matches.
Your phone's cell connection can be a bit spotty in crowded areas, so the natural thing to do is hook your device up to the nearest available public Wi-Fi — yet cybersecurity experts have warned that this could be more dangerous than you think.
According to new data from an ExpressVPN survey, scammers are targeting this year's World Cup through fake public Wi-Fi networks spoofing the name of airports, hotels, fan zones, and stadiums to fool fans looking for a better connection.
Why is using public Wi-Fi dangerous?
In connecting to one of these dodgy Wi-Fi networks you're opening up the opportunity for your personal data to be stolen, especially if you plan on using the connection to check mobile banking apps.
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The survey revealed that more than 70% of fans across the world trust official-sounding public Wi-Fi networks, and fewer than 40% of people claim that they could spot a fake network masquerading as a real one.
Convenience is obviously the biggest factor here – especially during vital match days where qualification from the groups is on the line, as the scores in other games could have a huge impact on your team's chances of progression.
For most people, however, checking the scores is only a part of what they'd end up using a fake network for, with experts outlining exactly why this can prove to be so dangerous.
"Every login, transaction, and message sent on an unverified network is an opportunity for malicious actors to exploit," ExpressVPN illustrates. As many as 29% of fans responding to the survey indicated that they had been targeted by phishing attempts and scam messages during major sporting events, and there's no bigger target for that than the World Cup this summer.
"Our research shows the vast majority of fans would connect without thinking twice," explained Aaron Engel, ExpressVPN's CISO. "Brand trust has become a vulnerability malicious actors are keen to exploit, and the World Cup – with millions of fans travelling to stadiums across three countries – is the biggest opportunity attackers have had in years."
This issue is significant enough for the White House's World Cup Task Force to take it into consideration, as it has outlined an 'unprecedented' security challenge ahead of the tournament — but much of the mitigation can only be enacted by individuals themselves.
How to avoid protect yourself against Wi-Fi scams
The obvious answer is unfortunately to avoid public Wi-Fi connections altogether, relying instead on your 4G or 5G cell service or simply going without until you can return to a more secure and reliable network.
It's understandable that, for many people, this is something that will prove challenging – especially if you have to keep in touch with your friends or use Wi-Fi for things like ordering a taxi or finding your ticket.
Instead, the best thing you can do when using a public Wi-Fi connection is to use a VPN, as this makes it significantly harder for malicious actors to exploit your activity and find vulnerabilities within the connection.
While it does add an extra step to the process, eliminating a part of the convenience, it's more than worth the minimal effort required to use one as it could very well be the difference between having your information and personal data exposed to hackers and continuing to browse safely.