Scammers waiting to take advantage of holiday shoppers, experts say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A new report released by ACI Financial suggests scammers are waiting to take advantage of shoppers in record numbers. The financial company blames the new chip cards.

Channel 9's Cuthbert Langley learned Florida is the state with the highest number of identity-theft complaints, according to NerdWallet.

Scammers are targeting internet users now more than ever.

“They become you,” said George Grachis, a cybersecurity expert with MSL Technologies.

A new report out by ACI Financial said online fraud is expected to increase 43 percent in 2017. Grachis says the new chip cards are to blame.

They're going, ‘We can't copy the card, so guess what, we'll go ahead and steal your entire identity and create a whole new card,’” Grachis said.

It's called "card not present" fraud. In 2014, that type of fraud cost consumers $10 billion. By 2019, that number will nearly double to $19 billion.

Grachis said the holidays are the perfect time for scammers to strike.

“You need to be careful about not answering emails to shop. Make sure you're initiating the transaction,” Grachis said.

Grachis recommends people do shopping from trusted sites, avoiding emails with links to sites.

Grachis warns that once someone’s identity is stolen, scammers can do almost anything with it.

“It takes many, many months, sometimes years, to undo it and fix it. Sometimes they commit crimes and then you've suddenly got a criminal record,” Grachis said.

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