OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are already live on many websites, but experts say this year they expect to see more cyber scams than ever before.
Many emails are already flooding with online retailers sending their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and as consumers flock to websites to get a leg up on deals early experts warn online shoppers to stay away from email links and more,
“They absolutely should not be clicking on links and emails this time of the year for sure,” said Cyber Security Expert, Brian Ledbetter with Guidepoint Security, “Generally speaking, people should always go to the source of truth when it comes to doing e-shopping.”
Cyber Security experts say one of the best ways to avoid getting scammed is to look for the SSL Certificate associated with the website,
“They can go look on their web browser, kind of toward the left side of the address bar, and if there’s a lock on it, they should be able to click it and verify that certificate is valid,” Ledbetter said.
Experts warn that Cyber Scams are on the rise as many people shop on low-cost websites like Temu and Shein,
“Generally speaking, when it comes to these new emerging websites that are low cost, there are definitely risks associated with their use,” said Ledbetter, “They may not have the stringent controls that we’re used to when we shop on walmart.com or amazon.com, etc. and so there’s definitely caution that should be exercised by the consumer when visiting those websites.”
Experts say AI is also contributing to the rise in E-scams,
“Something that consumers should be aware of is that with generative AI technologies, it makes it way easier for scammers to scam people,” Ledbetter said, “They can generate content very quickly and very convincingly.”
One way to protect your credit card information while shopping online is to use a payment processor like PayPal,
“Some websites, they might not use a payment processor like PayPal,” said Ledbetter, “It seems like it’s not threatening, not an issue, the problem is some of the security controls around their built-in Payment Capabilities may be lacking.”
Cyber safety experts also warn consumers to avoid buying items from ads on social media and links on text messages.