KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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The snow-covered streets in the Kansas City metro area may give holiday shoppers another reason to shop online and take advantage of Cyber Monday deals.
Josh Planos, vice president of marketing, communications and public relations at the Better Business Bureau (BBB), says he doesn't want consumers to be afraid of shopping online, but he believes they should be cautious.
“Cyber Monday in 2025 looks like scaling the scams to the tune of 100x of what it was even a year ago," he said. "That’s because the technology is there to do it.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) and social media are just some of the ways scammers are reaching consumers.
“Just because you see something on social media does not mean that it has been verified, does not mean that it is safe," Planos said.
Planos advises shoppers not to click on the social media ads and to manually head to the actual website themselves. Another option is to use your mouse to hover over the ad and make sure you're clicking on a credible website.
“Only shop through retailers you trust, and I know in 2025 that can be really challenging because we buy from new businesses all the time," Planos said.
Planos advises that once you're on a website, make sure the web address begins with "https." He noted the "s" is important.
“It means the site is secure and it’s encrypting your payment and information," he said.
Sometimes a scam can be obvious, whether that's through misspellings or images that look AI-generated. Consumers can double-check a website by looking to see if the business has a return policy and if it offers traditional payment methods.
“Using credit cards on retail holidays like Cyber Monday is probably the most essential thing, because there is actually a safety net with that transaction," Planos said.
Planos said a lot of the scams the BBB monitors in 2025 look real. There's one general rule consumers can follow.
“Trust your gut," Planos said. "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Consumers should be aware of scammers trying to contact them.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says consumers should be cautious of fake "delivery failure" or "order confirmation" emails for items that were never ordered.
Such emails are often an attempt by scammers to gain personal information from consumers, according to Hanaway.
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