IPHONE and Android owners have been warned about a vicious Wi-Fi attack that allows hackers to sneak into their social media accounts.

The sinister scheme can catch anyone out when they're trying to connect to free Wi-Fi networks seemingly from restaurants, coffee shops and even from plane when travelling Wi-Fi.

Hackers set-up a fake Wi-Fi network using brand names near legitimate businesses offering Wi-Fi in a bid to dupe them into connecting to it.

Once connected, all the victim's data they share with the network passes through a server controlled by the attacker.

And in some cases they may ask you to sign in using your social media account or Gmail - but doing so just gives away your precious password.

Experts have dubbed the attack as the "evil twin".

"Unfortunately, evil twin Wi-Fi access points are difficult to detect without specialized sniffing tools," NordVPN says.

"However, some signs may reveal an evil twin attack and help you avoid fishy connections."

Make sure the network name you're attempting to connect to matches the one named by the venue host.

If you see duplicates this could be a sign that someone has set up a fake.

If you're unsure, ask the staff to verify the name of the Wi-Fi network.

Some Wi-Fi networks require you to sign up or register.

But they shouldn't ask for lots of personal details - and certainly not financial details.

You shouldn't have to provide a username and password for your social network accounts to gain access either.

"Legitimate networks usually don't ask for login credentials unless it is a captive portal, for example, in a hotel or airport," NordVPN says.

If you're getting error messages while connected to a public network or if it's frequently disconnecting this might be due to an evil twin.

"Such issues may be caused by an attacker trying to intercept or redirect your traffic," NordVPN explains.