It used to be that the holiday shopping season was a busy time for malls. They'd extend their hours and try to find more parking spots. Customers would brave huge crowds to look for the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
That's starting to change. Online shopping has obviously had a huge impact on the way people shop. Last year, a poll showed that 75% of Americans shop on Amazon "most of the time."
That's billions of dollars worth of transactions, which of course has attracted scammers.
There's always holiday scams to be aware of. Last week, the Better Business Bureau warned that holiday gift card schemes are on the rise. Thieves write down the information of gift cards and use the money before you even get the chance.
Now there's another scam that shoppers need to be aware of.
In the new scam, an authentic looking email is sent to an Amazon customer instructing them to reset their password.
"They just write a program that, as soon as you submit that, they get it," said Adam Estes to WFTV. Estes is a computer security engineer. "It automatically logs in and starts buying things."
It's impossible to trace, and experts have warned that the scammers can max out accounts very quickly.
Estes warns that customers should never do anything directly from an email, and instead go to Amazon to fix a problem.
"If it says you need to reset your password, go directly to Amazon and log in," he said.
Billions of dollars are stolen every year and very few of the criminals are ever charged. The best course of action is to be careful and be suspicious of anything asking for personal information.
