How John got robbed while shopping online on Black Friday

Like every one of you who is gearing up to be ready for the grand Black Friday sales when it goes live, John was up to the same last year. He had so much on his list that he wanted to buy on discounts.

John hardly had almost $57,560 in his bank account last year. While not all of it was to be spent on buying things on Black Friday, he did plan on spending around $2500 for a new MacBook Air that his wife wanted, and a PS4 for his son. A few days before Black Friday, John was having his morning coffee in a café, checking out the latest news and updates over free Wi-Fi that the café was providing to its customers. John decided to browse through some of the websites that were expected to offer Black Friday Discount and make nots of what to buy and from where.

Just when he was almost done with his research, he saw an ad pop up on his screen, offering the MacBook Air at 25% off. Now that was huge! John had never seen an Apple product with such a significant discount. Since the ad said that it was a limited time offer, he clicked on it right away, selected his product, and proceeded to checkout.

Things seemed great! John was already thinking to surprise his wife with a brand new MacBook Air a day before Black Friday. He quickly completed a short sign-up form, gave his credit card info, and done. Now he just had to wait a while for the package to get delivered at his address.

On Black Friday, John knew exactly what he had to buy. Without wasting any time, he proceeded to the website, selected the PS4 for his son, and proceeded to check out. But the transaction did not complete. An error “insufficient funds” surprised him first, as John knew he has enough money in his bank account to buy 10 PS4s. Why was he getting an error?

Thinking that it’s a website glitch, or that there may be too much traffic on the website, causing it to stutter, John gave it another try. However, when the same error messaged returned, the surprise turned into a shock. So he immediately picked up his phone and gave a call to his bank.

The bank had the worst news for John. Apparently, the 25% discount on the MacBook Air that John saw was a scam. It was a malicious ad, crafted in a way to make John fall for it and click on it. The malicious individual was supposedly present in the café that day, and had very tactfully made John click on the ad. When he clicked, the hacker got access to John’s laptop, allowing him to install a key logger on John’s device.

Once the key logger was in place, the hacker just had to wait for John to log in to a few of his accounts and see some of his emails and social profiles. In just a matter of time, the hacker was logged in to John’s bank account and changed his contact details, such as his phone number and email address. Once done, the hacker had control to approve transactions without alerting John with any notifications.

Having changed the contact info on John’s account, the hacker owned his money. He may have used it for online shopping, or may have purchased bitcoins using it, there was no telling. But as far as John was concerned, he had faced quite a terrible loss due to a mistake which he didn’t realize when he was making it.

That year, John had a unique New Year resolution. He wanted to make his digital identity secure, learn how to combat fraudsters online, and secure all of his sensitive data. It initially seemed like a lot to do, but then John found a great cyber security tool that does it all with the blink of an eye.

What has changed for John now?

This year, John has learned his lesson and knows how to protect himself from online scams and frauds which can rip people off, just like he got ripped last year. This Black Friday, John has installed a VPN on all of his smart devices which keeps him completely safe and secure online.

What John signed up for was PureVPN, based on the reviews he found online. The VPN has lived up to its reputation and has provided him with complete security over everything that he now does online. Any malicious ads and scams that pop up on webpages get blocked by his VPN instantly, so there is no chance of clicking on any malicious link. Moreover, the VPN provides John with the ultimate anonymity and online invisibility, which makes it impossible for any cybercriminal to pin down John’s activities and exploit them.

When John was unable to buy his wife a brand new MacBook Air, she was unhappy. But she understood John’s situation and was ready to wait. This year, John is going to buy her the latest MacBook Air 2018, which was just unveiled 2 months ago, and she couldn’t be any happier.

Here is how John’s Choice of VPN can help you too this Black Friday

  • Get completely secure online
  • Stay Completely safe over public Wi-Fi
  • Stay safe from hackers, cyber criminals, online scams, fake discounts
  • Secure all the devices you own, with the multi-login feature
  • Block all ads and malicious popups
  • Encrypt all web activity, making it impossible for anyone to keep tabs on you
  • Access deals and discounts that are not available in your region
  • Buy flight tickets for much cheaper price
  • Access services that don’t work in your area
  • The good news? John would be renewing his VPN plan with PureVPN as he already came to know about one of the best VPN deals they would be offering this Black Friday with discounts going up to a whopping 88%. So, if you are an internet user who is concerned about their security and privacy online just like John, get yourself a VPN today. This is the only way you will make it through with safety for sure, this Black Friday!

Be safe! Happy Shopping!

Payel Dutta
Payel Dutta
Happy soul, fond of travelling and loves to read tech columns.

1 COMMENT

  1. Interesting story Payel. I believe everybody should be using a VPN right now, especially with the news of data breaches around the world. I tried PureVPN last year but didn’t really like it. Had some minor problems with connection and customer support. Right now prefer Surfshark or NordVPN.

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