(WTNH) – It’s Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. While you’re taking advantage of the sweet deals, scammers may be taking advantage of your personal information.
This holiday season, everyone is looking for a bargain, and scammers are looking for their next target. Fred Scholl leads Quinnipiac’s cybersecurity program and says criminals are getting better at spoofing.
“They’re using artificial intelligence to create really good fake websites, fake messages, fake voicemails,” Scholl said.
He suggests typing the URL directly into your web browser instead of clicking on links. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong says you should be mindful of copycat websites.
“Sometimes you’ll find a really great price on a really hot item on a really obscure website that you haven’t seen before,” Tong said. “A lot of it goes unreported.”
Tong says a lot goes unreported because people either don’t have time to file a complaint or feel too ashamed to report it. The Department of Consumer Protection says anyone can fall victim to online scams no matter how tech-savvy they are.
“We just, first of all, encourage people to not feel ashamed if it happens to you, and second, definitely report those scams either to our office, the attorney general’s office, or the Federal Trade Commission,” said Kaitlyn Krasselt, Dept. of Consumer Protection.
Experts say with more people shopping online, there are more scams, so you’re encouraged to shop in person and shop small this holiday season.