A VPN isn't going to protect anyone from fraud.  

It's not a great analogy, but getting/using a VPN for someone who is susceptible to fraud via Instagram and Facebook is a little like making a nervous driver who has had a few accidents because they won't keep their hands off their cell phone to learn a manual transmission so that they have more control over the vehicle.  

A VPN prevents someone who owns or has already infiltrated your local network from monitoring what you are doing on the network.  If what you are doing is via a secure connection (which *every* bank will be), all the "spy" can know is where you go, i.e. the URLs you visit.  All the VPN would then be doing is hiding that bit of information.  

My suggestion about not expecting privacy from a free VPN was to emphasize that if it is free, you are the product.  The only truly private VPNs are going to cost money.  I haven't priced them out lately, but again, it does not sound like a VPN is only going to make things more complicated and confusing with a false sense of security.  

Erich


On Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 21:19, Charles Meyer eloquently inscribed:

> Hi Erich and Tom,
> 
> Thank you so much for sharing your helpful thoughts, experience with
> TunnelBear and links to trusted review sites.
> 
> They are hard to come by for everything these days – consumer goods,
> electronics, etc.
> 
> You wrote <snip> If you want the privacy from tracking or surveillance, I
> wouldn’t use a free VPN service.”
> 
> What would you use?
> 
> How affordable is that option?
> 
> I’ve since learned she’s been a victim of fraud on the net via Instagram
> and Facebook so she doesn’t want be found by these miscreants and wants
> to ensure her Social Security money isn’t drained from her bank checking
> account via unauthorized withdrawals.
> 
> Would TunnelBear suffice under these circumstances?
> 
> Hi Joe… Thank you for educating me re: what VPNs but what would you
> do/use if you were in this patron’s circumstances?
> 
> Hi Tamara, since you don’t recommend using a VPN in these circumstances
> how would you suggest someone who isn’t a systems administrator and
> doesn’t have that training ascertain how to check that her public WIFI
> provided by a smaller public library is secure with a valid certificate?
> 
> She logs on to the net with the library hotspot and types in her bank’s url
> (or click the bookmark in Firefox, Brave or Vivaldi) and is prompted for
> her user ID and password to her bank web page. Once in to that back she
> checks on checking account balance and for any unauthorized debits.
> 
> She then needs to connect to the online credit card bank to log in so she
> can transfer funds from her local bank to the credit card bank so she can
> pay off her monthly credit card balance.
> 
> Thank you so much.
> 
> Charles.
> 
> Charlotte County Public Library