New research by ExpressVPN has revealed a clear gap between awareness and behaviour around the risks of using public Wi-Fi, with 75.8% of Australians surveyed acknowledging that connecting to public Wi-Fi at venues like stadiums, airports, and bars is risky – yet convenience invariably proves more important.
The survey across six countries ( Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain) showed Australian football fans were more vigilant than their global peers but were still putting their personal data at risk ahead of the World Cup.
The research showed that only three in 10 Australian fans said they could distinguish between a legitimate public Wi-Fi network and a fake one – and despite this, a significant segment said they would trust a venue-named network simply because it appeared to be provided by a hotel, stadium, or airline.
Cybercriminals often take advantage of major live events by launching phishing scams, fake streaming platforms, fraudulent ticket scams, and fake public Wi-Fi networks designed to mimic legitimate venue connections.
“Cybercriminals don’t need sophisticated tools to target football fans. They just need to name their network ‘Stadium_Guest_WiFi’ and wait,”said Aaron Engel, CISO at ExpressVPN. “Our research shows nearly two in three Australians would connect to a venue-named network without thinking twice, and once they do, they’re logging into email, banking apps, and social media – from the hotel to the stadium.”
“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. Australians should be wary of phishing scams, fake streaming platforms, and fraudulent ticket offers – if it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” said Engel.
“The irony is that protecting yourself doesn’t require sophisticated tools either – a VPN takes seconds to switch on and makes you a significantly harder target. Attackers rely on fans doing nothing. Don’t make it that easy for them.”
More than half (56.9%) of Australian fans are still willing to share personal details over these networks, including their email address (35.2%) and full name (17.1%) – and a small number would even hand over social media credentials (5.1%) or payment details (1.7%).
When the match is live, caution gives way to convenience even more. Just over a third (34.4%) of Australians have streamed live matches or sports content on public Wi-Fi, and nearly one in five (19%) said they would still do so even knowing the network might not be secure.
In Australia, 22.4% of the Gen Z demographic said they would use public Wi-Fi to follow a match, even if they knew it might not be secure – albeit much lower than the United States (47.7%), UK (38.7%), France (30.9%), and Germany (23.9%), but consistent with a generational pattern of prioritising connectivity over caution.
