Avoiding shopping scams used to be so simple. Watch out for pickpocketers. Don't send money online to strangers. If an email looks fake, it probably is. But in 2023, the scams are a lot more sophisticated than you may have realized.

These are organized criminal gangs, often located overseas, who are very savvy at what they do.

John Bria, with the National Consumer League, has been tracking really convincing websites, product reviews, shipping alerts, all fake. Basically, these aren't the same old Nigerian email scams. Just ask a former Nigerian scammer..

I become a.

Smart every day. Chris Maxwell, zooming in from the middle of the night in Nigeria, is a reformed scammer now consulting for the site socialcatfish. Com. He says scammers aren't just looking for a quick payday these days. They want a gift that keeps on giving just one of your major passwords since so many of us reuse them across multiple accounts.

Once you have access to the password, you have access to their Social Security number, you have access to their driver's license, you have access to their credit card, you have access to their bank account. It's very easy to do a lot of damage with information like that.

Here are five quick tips to defend yourself against 2023's most dangerous thieves and hackers. Number one, don't reuse passwords. I know it's impossible to remember 300 different logins, but at least use different passwords for your bank and email. Consider using a secure password manager to make it all easier. And always use two-factor authentication for those really important accounts. Number two, look out for shipping scams. Get an email or text about a delayed delivery? Don't click, don't respond, don't call the number. To avoid a trap, get your updates from the retailer or the shipper's sites. Tip number three, you may think I'm.

Nuts here, but.

Update your software. About four in 10 Americans hammer that Remind me Later button when prompted to patch up vulnerabilities, and it's music to hacker's ears. Well, this is me reminding you later.

Update your phone and your software.

Tip number four, pay with a credit card. They have much better protections than most of the new digital payments scammersers prefer.

Bitcoin, gift card, cash app, pay for payment.

If they ask you to pay a risky way, run away.

You pay, pay the safest way. That's with a credit card for most people.

Tip.

Number five.

Beware of really convincing online websites you've never heard of. Even Black Friday deals have their limits.

Listen to your gut. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

With any luck, your vigilance will ensure some happy holidays, at least until those credit card bills roll in come January.

I don't know, Noah saw a good ad for a new TV for 10 bucks. Are you're trying to tell me that could.

Be fake? Go to the store, wait overnight, and do it in person, Halley.

Here's the thing that's so interesting, though, AI, stuff that's like deep fake scams. In some ways, this new tech means a new realm or a new world of fraud that we have to watch for, right?

Yeah, and the watch dogs say this is really just the beginning of that wave. The deep fake stuff is scary. The audio, the visuals of seeing someone you think is someone you know, that's scary. But they're also really concerned about the fact that they can use these text-based traps, use AI to perfect them and really just go large scale with these traps. So instead of having to do potential victims one by one, they do hundreds or thousands at a time, all automated. So there's a lot of concern.

The best advice.

Is for you and your family, have a safe word. So if someone who looks and sounds like you reaches out to your family and you want to be sure, there at least is some way for you to communicate secretly between each other to know if this is a real problem, a real emergency, and those kinds of things. So, Halley, one piece of advice on top of those five quick ones he gave you as well.

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