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Cyber Monday experts warning people to be on high alert for scammers

Posted 10:45 AM, Dec 02, 2019
and last updated 11:22 AM, Dec 02, 2019

While this Cyber Monday will have endless deals, it will also have scammers lurking online.

“This is like a buffet for cyber criminals because they can just pepper people with phishing emails and offer them great deals and since everybody’s in shopping mode they’re going to click on everything they see, which is dangerous,” said Stacy Arruda, CEO and Principle of Arruda Group.

RELATED: Cyber Monday deals 2019: Save big at Amazon, Ulta, Best Buy and more

Experts say it’s important to do your research before buying.

Many third party sellers are advertising huge discounts, but make sure they’re legitimate.

“Know what the average price is of that item so when you receive an email and say ‘Oh wow that item is now 75 percent off?’ You know that is not true,” said Arruda.

While sites like Amazon are cracking down on fakes, they’re just moving to other websites to phish for personal information.

Be critical, and look for spelling errors on their websites and avoid clicking links or downloading files.

“At home it would put all your personal information at risk. At work it would compromise your employer's network and put everything at risk at your place of business,” said Arruda.

Experts say you should make sure your security software is up to date and keep your personal information private.

Beware of links sent to your email. If you’re interested in a deal just go to the company’s website directly.

“When you receive the email with the offer absolutely go to the website, do not click through, do not provide any information that an email asks for, go through the website,” said Arruda.

Many people will take advantage of Cyber Monday deals at work, but shopping online in in the workplace could be dangerous for the entire company.

If you do make a mistake and click on something you’re not sure about, immediately pull the network cable out of the back of the computer.

“Contact your IT folks and let them know so they can localize and determine whether or not that computer has been compromised,” said Arruda.