Holiday shopping scams surge as AI makes fraud easier to execute

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - The holiday rush has arrived, and scammers are using new technology to target shoppers looking for deals.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says the best online shoppers are the skeptical ones during the busy holiday season.

“They’re counting on you not paying attention,” said Ericka Dilworth, who is the Vice President of Operations for the BBB in Cleveland. “Catch your breath, do a little bit of homework, and make sure you are where you think you are.”

The rush of the holiday season can create a busy flurry of activity around cookies and gifts.

Dilworth says it’s the perfect time for scammers, and artificial intelligence (AI) is making it easier than ever.

“You can’t get caught in the, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a week before Christmas and I haven’t got anything,’ that’s what the scammer is betting on,” Dilworth said.

AI creates convincing fake deals

Online protection site McAfee reports one in three people fell for an online scam over the holidays last year.

“It is almost impossible for even me, someone who looks at scams all the time, to determine whether it is a scam,” Dilworth said.

Scammers use AI to create ads and pages for deals that seem too good to be true. Unfortunately, they are.

To spot a scam, Dilworth says shoppers should do a little digging.

Check the original website and don’t click on the link in the ad.

Don’t follow links from social media or email.

“It is almost impossible to tell what is real and what is fake right now, especially with AI, so you do just have to assume, sorry to say, you have to assume that it is a scam and do your homework,” Dilworth said.

Use credit cards for protection

Most critically, she says shoppers should use a credit card to make purchases.

Credit card companies can recover money from fraudulent transactions, but debit and gift card payments are usually gone for good.

“If something doesn’t quite make sense, if someone starts to ask questions, or you start to ask questions, and something feels a little off, then you have to trust that,” Dilworth said.