The coffee shop wifi trap that cost me $400 in Tampa

I was at a little cafe near the riverwalk in Tampa last month, doing some freelance work on my laptop. The place had that free wifi you just click into, no password or anything, and I figured what's the harm for 30 minutes. Turns out someone had set up a fake hotspot with the exact same name as the shop, and I didn't notice until my bank app flagged two weird charges from overseas. My bank reversed them, but I had to cancel my card and wait 4 days for a new one, which messed up a bunch of auto-pays. Now I always check with the barista for the exact network name and use my phone's hotspot for anything involving money or logins. Has anyone else gotten burned by a clone hotspot at a public place, or do you have a better way to spot the fake ones?

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