Got phished at a Starbucks in Nashville last spring - changed my whole setup

I was grading papers on their public wifi and clicked a link that looked exactly like my bank's login page. It took me three days and two hours on the phone with my credit union to sort out the damage. What do you use for a personal VPN that actually works on a teacher's budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam6752mo ago

keithharris I gotta say I'm not a huge fan of Mullvad for public wifi stuff. The speed has been a real issue for me at coffee shops, especially when I'm trying to upload anything. For a teacher's budget I'd actually recommend looking at ProtonVPN's free tier, it's pretty solid for basic browsing and doesn't sell your data. Just make sure you turn on the kill switch feature before you connect to anything at Starbucks again.

keithharris2mo ago

Man, that Starbucks story is brutal. I read somewhere that a lot of those fake login pages look so spot on because they steal the CSS right from the real site. I use Mullvad for my VPN, it's like five bucks a month and you can pay with cash if you're paranoid. It's not the fastest thing ever but it's never let me down for things like checking my email or paying bills on public wifi. Definitely worth looking at if you're trying to avoid another three days of phone calls lol.

mason_foster6814d ago

That Nashville story hits close to home, I had something similar happen at a coffee shop in Austin a few years back. It's a sick feeling when you realize you've handed over your login info to someone who doesn't belong. Adam's suggestion about ProtonVPN's free tier is worth a look for a tight budget, I've heard good things about their privacy stance from some tech folks I trust. Mullvad's five bucks a month is also a solid deal if you can swing it, I've used it myself and never had speed problems like some people mention. Just having something between you and the open wifi makes a world of difference, even if it's not the fastest option out there.