Two men have been arrested under suspicion of “wi-fi squatting”, making them the first in the North of England to be suspected of logging on to another person’s internet connection illegally.

The arrests occurred after a woman reported two men behaving suspiciously outside her home sat in a car using their laptop computers. It later emerged that the two men were using the woman’s wireless broadband connection to check their emails. Both men were arrested for dishonestly obtaining a communications service and are on bail pending further enquiries.

Despite the fact that there are now thousands of legitimate hotspots around the country, “piggybacking” is becoming an increasingly common, even though under the 2003 Communications Act it is illegal to use another person’s service provider to access the internet and it could result in a maximum penalty of five years in jail or a fine.

A new phenomenon called “warchalking” has also been noted to be aiding regular piggybackers. By drawing a chalk symbol on a wall or pavement, Wi-Fi guerillas are able to expose open wireless internet connections to their fellow piggybacking buddies. However UK founder, Matt Jones has aired his views supporting the tagging concept: “If someone chalks the fact that you’re exposed and you’re a sysadmin, you can see it. You know you’re exposed, and then you can decide what you want to do. I have already had emails from some sysadmins who said they love the idea. Several even said they will print the symbols on a card and put it in their office windows. “

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