‘Tis the season to be scammed

Tuesday and Wednesday are Amazon Prime Day and with the holidays quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time for scammers to strike.

Kevin Cosgrove has written a book on digital safety.

“They (scammers) prey on these individual moments,” said Cosgrove, whose radar is on high alert for online shoppers.

“The scammers already have everything all planned ahead of time. They're already sending out emails. They're already generating fake websites so it's definitely a day that we need to be a little more on alert, that's for sure.”

Cosgrove is a Crimestoppers board member and veteran technician at PC Outlet, who wants people to be aware and recognize fake emails and websites.

“Paying attention to what the actual website address is and whether that's in through the email or you're looking at a web browser, you gotta make sure you're actually on Amazon,” he said.

Frank Abbruzesse, president of Alphakor, suggested opening a brand new window in your browser and enter the proper website name.

“Enter your credentials, without going to the link that they sent you,” said Abbruzesse.

Abbruzezze said ‘tis the season to get scammed with Prime Days, Black Friday and Christmas within a three-month window, citing gift cards are popular.

“That's very popular this time of year. Be wary of gift card promotions,” he warned.

Abbruzezze pointed out companies continue being hit with phishing scams.

“That's a big challenge that we're seeing out there,” he said. “That's very common. The CEO president is emailing their employees, especially when the emails are public today. And a lot of websites, they're saying run out and buy gift cards and we'll pay you later, put in the expense receipt. So, we're seeing that's picking up right now as well.”

Abbruzesse finds artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting the way scammers create their cons, by helping polish their pitches.

“AI is disguising the voices to sound like you today, like your loved ones. So be careful,” he said.

“Don't run out and give them money. Take a look at it, ask a lot of questions, and sometimes you have to get the authorities involved.”

Cosgrove said even the grandparent scam has been refined with AI using a sample to re-create a person's voice.

“They're definitely using AI to increase some of the scams that are already out there,” Cosgrove warned.

“Let's hope they don't come up with new scams we can't predict.”