emery19•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Just realized my 'free' VPN cost me $300 in fraudulent charges

I downloaded a popular free VPN app last year because I wanted to watch some shows while traveling... seemed harmless. Turns out they were selling my data, and someone got my card details. I didn't notice until I saw a $300 charge for some online game currency I never bought. It took me two full days of calls with my bank to sort it out and get a new card issued. Has anyone else had a bad experience with a free security tool that actually made things worse? Looking for actually safe options now.

3 comments

3 Comments

troy8321mo ago

Man that's rough. Used to think all VPNs were basically the same, but stories like this totally changed my mind. Free ones can be a real trap.

terry_jones1mo ago

Yeah, "free ones can be a real trap" is putting it nicely! It's like getting a free puppy that turns out to be a data-eating gremlin.

derek65626d ago

Hold up, I gotta disagree hard here. I've been using ProtonVPN's free tier for like two years now and it's been totally solid for just browsing and streaming. Not everybody needs all the extra bells and whistles of a paid service. Most people just want to stop their ISP from spying on them or get around a few basic geo-blocks. The real "trap" is paying for something you don't actually need when a free option does the job just fine. There are definitely sketchy free VPNs out there, but saying all of them are garbage is just wrong.