The holiday shopping season officially kicks off this weekend, with a slew of deals from Black Friday through Cyber ​​Monday… but is the deal too good to be true?

There’s a lot of money about to flow through Texas, and where there’s money, says Jason Meza of the Better Business Bureau, there’s always the danger that someone else will try to steal it.

“Especially this time of year, you have to be on your guard,” Meza said. “You could be shopping at the mall and you get the text, or you get a notification and you just don’t think twice about it.”

The BBB says losses in the state due to scams increased by nearly $1 million between 2022 and 2023. And this year alone, online shopping reports to the Federal Trade Commission have totaled more than $300 million.

“Social media has now become the next frontier when it comes to scams and fraud,” Meza said. “The problem is it’s hard to research, it’s hard to verify who is legitimate and what kind of reseller or seller they are.”

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Kathy Stokes of AARP says 82% of Americans have experienced some form of fraud in the past year, even if unsuccessfully. She says another common threat during the holidays is gift card scams.

“They have to beware of the fact that criminals are very good at manipulating those cards, both electronically and from the store,” Stokes said. “We found that 30% of us have given or received a gift card with no value on it, which is up from 21%.”

Also, peer-to-peer banking services such as Venmo or CashApp should only be used with trusted friends or family.

“They simply don’t have any protections, consumer protections,” Stokes said. “So what you really want to do when you purchase an item is use a credit card. That’s your safest bet.”

And during the season of giving, Meza also says to beware of fake charities.

“Take the time to research who the charity is and who their mission is, what their board of directors is, and just do a little more research,” Meza said. “That charity will welcome your money tomorrow as much as it will today.” ((6:05))

In all of these cases, Meza says the best way to protect yourself is to think before you swipe.

“We always tell people to be on the lookout, if they see fraud popping up or something just doesn’t feel right, they should be suspicious,” Meza said. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”