Does a VPN really help your Black Friday shop?

Black Friday Shopping Safety
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

From fluctuating prices to fake shops and phishing scams, shopping for the best Black Friday deals is anything but easy these days. Luckily, there's a simple way to improve your online shopping experience – connecting to a VPN.

The best VPN apps keep you safe against scams and snooping as they encrypt your internet connections and prevent threats from reaching your devices. They also spoof your real IP address location to grant you anonymity and get you the best deals no matter where you are. Even better, you can buy one of the top services for a fraction of the price right now thanks to Black Friday VPN deals.

So, if you're looking to get the best from your Black Friday spend, here's everything you need to know about how a VPN can help.

Today's top Black Friday VPN:

Surfshark:  30-day money-back guarantee.

Surfshark: Up to 87% off + up to 6 months free
Can you believe the best cheap VPN got even cheaper for Black Friday? Well, that's surely what Surfshark did again this year as it slashed its pricing by up to 87% off. You can get its Starter pack for as little as $1.99 a month, or upgrade for less than a dollar to get its full security bundle including antivirus, ID protection, and more. Try it out risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

▶ Read more in our full Surfshark review

Access worldwide deals

IP spoofing is perhaps the biggest reason VPNs have become such popular tools everywhere. A masked IP isn't just great for online anonymity, unblocking streaming catalogs, or censored sites – it also allows you to access worldwide deals no matter where you are.

For example, if you're traveling abroad right now, there's a big chance you cannot shop from your favorite stores as you would when you are home. With a VPN, however, you can trick your ISP into thinking you're browsing from your home country in no time.

I know all this sounds quite technical and complicated but, in reality, it's very simple. All you need to do is connect to a VPN server located in the country of your choice and enjoy even more savings on the best deals worldwide.

Escape dynamic pricing

Sometimes there's no need to travel outside your country to notice a change in the pricing of the offer you've been watching. This is because some online stores and websites may enforce dynamic pricing.

Such a technique makes price tags fluctuate based on how long you spend on a particular site, how many times you open the same page, your overall online browsing profile, and so on. The key to escaping such price discrimination? Online anonymity.

While clearing your browser's cookies and opening a page in incognito may do the trick at times, connecting to a VPN is the ultimate way to keep your browsing private as you'll have a different IP for every browsing session you initiate.

Phishing

(Image credit: Vektor Illustration/Shutterstock)

Minimize online scams

Shoppers aren't the only ones loving the Black Friday season – scammers are, too. Fake shops and phishing scams are popping out like mushrooms during this period, in fact. Even authorities are now sharing tips on how to shop safely.

As mentioned earlier, all virtual private network (VPN) services can boost your overall privacy online. Some VPNs, however, also come with built-in malware and ad-blocker (Surfshark included) to minimize phishing and other scams before infecting your device or stealing your data.

While technology definitely helps you boost your defense against scams, you also need to learn how to spot Black Friday scams' red flags to reduce even more your chances of falling victim to cybercriminals.

Secure your sensitive data

Last but not least, a VPN's main job is securing all your sensitive data to minimize online tracking. This is very important every time you browse the internet (especially from an unsecured public Wi-Fi hotspot) and even more as you're hunting for the best Black Friday offer.

A VPN encrypts all internet connections while rerouting your data through one of its international servers. These two actions combined are meant to prevent third-party snooping and hacker attacks so your identity and financial information are less vulnerable to being compromised.

The likes of Surfshark and NordVPNExpressVPN, too, but only for US users – even offer extra ID theft protection on their top-tier plans. Again, Surfshark's offering is the cheapest as it enables you to bag yourself the Surfshark One security bundle for as little as the equivalent of $2.49 a month.

TOPICS
Chiara Castro
Senior Staff Writer

Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up. She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com