MILWAUKEE — Over the next several days, millions of Americans will be taking advantage of online deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
"Companies and retailers are putting out their heads up emails, those Black Friday deals or even extending those deals earlier on," cybersecurity expert Bryan Sevener said.
While you're on the move to find a good deal this holiday season, so are cybercriminals.
"Right now, it's predominantly targeted at getting access to your personally identifiable information and any online accounts you may have access to, getting your credit card information," Sevener explained.
Sevener is the president of ValorTechnologies, a Milwaukee-based cybersecurity company.
His team predicts even more consumers will be targeted this year.
In 2022, Sevener said victims of Black Friday and Cyber Monday faux deals individually lost up to $1,200.
This year, experts said victims could lose up to $1,500 on fake deals.
"They might say 'Quick, click now this deal ends before Black Friday or before Cyber Monday'," Sevener said.
Any deal that is time-sensitive or that's too good to be true is a red flag.
You may also get email advertisements. Experts said not to click on those. First, you should verify the email address the ad was sent from.
"Open a separate browser, go to that website, look for your Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals, and see if you can find that same offer on that website," Sevener added.
You may also see a deal while scrolling on social media. Experts recommend you don't click on those either.
"I never recommend clicking on ads. A, just don't. Who wants to get more ads, but more importantly, much like your emails, you wanna go and go directly to that retailer," Sevener said.
All these tips and it's happy online shopping for you.
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