Learned the hard way about public WiFi at a coffee shop last Tuesday

I was checking my bank balance at a Starbucks in Austin and someone on the same network grabbed my login. Lost $240 before I caught it, now I only use a VPN on public networks. Has anyone else had a close call like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

smith.anna19d ago

I had $180 stolen from my checking account last fall at a Panera in Dallas, same exact thing. I was just checking my email and someone grabbed my Starbucks app login too. Now I feel paranoid even logging into anything on public WiFi without my VPN on. It sucks that you can't even trust a coffee shop's free internet anymore without getting burned.

knight.oscar19d ago

Hold up, am I the only one who thinks this is way more about people using their bank app on public wifi than it is about the wifi itself? @smith.anna I get why you feel paranoid, but let's be real - checking your bank balance in Starbucks is like waving cash around in a crowded mall. Public wifi is public, that's kinda the deal. People act surprised when something shady happens, but most public networks tell you straight up they're not secure. The real lesson here isn't "VPN saves the day," it's "maybe don't log into your bank account where any rando with a laptop can see what you're doing." I use public wifi all the time for casual browsing, I just don't take my financial info out for a walk there.