All of this is literally the polar opposite of what I teach at my privacy talks.

1. Absolutely use a VPN. I recommend MullVad.
2. Absolutely use a privacy browser like Brave or the MullVad browser
3. Absolutely use Tor and the Tor browser. This is especially important if you cannot afford to pay for a VPN.
4. Use bitcoin and practice good privacy when you do. This includes buying for cash from your friends.

Sad this happened to you but gives me hope that a 16 year old kid knows that everything mention above is a complete lie and should be ignored.