Black Friday weekend has finally arrived, and no doubt you'll be looking to take advantage of the great deals on offer.
There are some amazing Black Friday VPN deals, with many of the best VPNs discounting their plans for a limited time only. Surfshark is the best deal overall, for its combination of price and product, and is an incredible $1.99 per month.
That's not all though, our top rated VPN, NordVPN is 74% off, at $2.99 per month, and Proton VPN has surprised us all with a flash sale. The privacy focused VPN is 80% off until Saturday morning, also coming in at $1.99 per month.
Taking advantage of these deals will be a priority for many of you, but don't compromise your safety. Scammers prey on Black Friday buyers, and will use an array of tactics such as fake shops and phishing, to steal your personal information.
Below we'll set out a few tips that'll help you stay safe while shopping this weekend.
Let's start with VPNs
Using a VPN is a great way to protect yourself when shopping online. VPNs protect your online traffic by sending it through an encrypted tunnel, hiding it from scammers and other third-parties.
You can change your IP address to appear as though you're visiting the site from a different country, hiding your actual location, and protecting your privacy. If you're planning on doing any shopping when connected to public Wi-Fi, or visiting a coffee shop to take a break from checking out your local stores, then a VPN will come in handy.
Public Wi-Fi hotspots are safe most of the time, but scammers can set up their own fake networks in order to hack you and steal your data. If you're connecting to free public Wi-Fi via a VPN, all your data will be encrypted and protected, so even if it is seen by a scammer, they can do nothing with the information.
Many VPNs also include malware, antivirus, and phishing protection in their plans – although some are better than others. These tools can identify malicious sites, and warn you of their danger, before you have the chance to click on them. NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro has recently been rated the best VPN malware protection, identifying over 83% of the malicious sites thrown at it. Nord also offers NordProtect, which offers up to $1 million in cyber insurance, as well as personal information monitoring. ExpressVPN, the best beginner VPN, offers something similar with its Identity Defender suite.
Although many VPNs include malware and antivirus protection, not all of them perform well. Purchasing the best antivirus software is another great way to protect yourself from scams.
Reinforcing good password habits
Human error is still the leading cause of cybercrime, and making sure you have a strong password is essential to protecting yourself when shopping online this Black Friday. You may have to log into existing accounts, or create new ones when checking out, so in order to protect things such as your card details or home address, you're going to need a strong password.
123456 is the world's most popular password, and the top 20 passwords in both the UK and US can be cracked in under a second. Passwords should be long, unique, and made up of a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols. They should never be repeated, so if you use the same couple of passwords for all your accounts, you may want to rethink that.
Using one of the best password managers is the perfect way to improve your password habits. They will generate, and remember, secure, complex passwords for you, meaning you can have a strong, unique password for every account you have.
Password managers are often included in premium VPN plans – NordVPN has NordPass, ExpressVPN offers ExpressVPN Keys, and Proton VPN includes Proton Pass in its Proton Unlimited plan.
Spotting fake shops
Fake online shops are especially dangerous, due to their very convincing appearance. Scammers adopt tricks like subtly altering website URLs, and hiding their actual length – replacing "Amazon" with "Arnazon" is a common one, and easy to miss if you're not paying attention.
Skewed reviews, typos, and "too good to be true" discounts, are other red flags you should be aware of. Be vigilant and cautious, and only click on links you're 100% sure are safe.
Following these tips and tricks will go a long way to protecting you from Black Friday scams this weekend.
