Black Friday is notorious for online scams since there is an increase in online traffic, but there are some things you can do to make sure you shop safely.
Jon Schram is president of the tech company Purple Guys based out of Kansas City, Kansas. He said the number one scam he sees online shoppers falling for is fake websites looking for personal information.
"It's relatively easy to put up a website, steal somebody else’s brand and logo, stick it on there, so knowing again it's looking at the little URL at the top of your window to know that if you went to Best Buy you're actually at Best Buy dot com," said Schram.
RELATED | Black Friday: A guide to shopping in November
There are other security measures in place that can be spotted in the URL. You should look for “https;” the ‘s’ stands for secured. People can also look for a padlock before the URL. This too indicates that it is secure.
Schram said most major online shopping sites, like Amazon, will have these signs signifying it is a secured website.
If you plan on shopping with your smart phone, check the details on the app you are using.
"One of the things to look for is in the description so if this is a legitimate app and you read through the description it should, the wording and the grammar should be correct. If it’s not that’s an indication this might have been slapped together to try and steal info on Black Friday," said Schram.
------
Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com
