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1 in 3 Americans has been hit by an online shopping scam — are you next? A recent study from the Pew Research Center puts a number on something many of us have suspected: online shopping scams are not rare. According to the data, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That is a large enough share to make the problem feel less like a remote possibility and more like an ordinary risk of buying things on the internet. ...

That Google Alert Might Be a Scam—Here’s How to Recognize the Fake If you use Gmail, Google Drive, or Google Ads, chances are you’ve seen a notification pop up warning about “unusual activity” or telling you your account will be suspended unless you act immediately. A new wave of phishing emails and pop-ups is impersonating these legitimate Google alerts—and they look convincing enough to fool even careful users. ...

Chrome Extensions Hijacked: How to Spot and Avoid Rogue Productivity Tools If you use a browser for work, you probably have a handful of extensions: a grammar checker, a tab manager, a password vault. They seem harmless, even essential. But over the past two years, a growing number of these tools have become entry points for attackers. A recent report by Security Boulevard highlighted how so-called productivity extensions are being turned into enterprise attack vectors, with over 500,000 users affected in a single supply chain incident. This isn’t about obscure add‑ons from sketchy sites. It’s about extensions that were once legitimate and trusted. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Scammed Online Shopping: How to Protect Yourself Online shopping is convenient, but it also carries risk. According to a 2025 survey from the Pew Research Center, about a third of Americans say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That’s a large enough share that most of us either know someone affected or have been targeted ourselves. ...

That Google Alert Might Be a Scam: How to Spot the Latest Phishing Trick A new wave of phishing emails is hitting inboxes, and this one is unusually convincing. According to a recent report from Reader’s Digest, scammers are sending messages that look nearly identical to official Google communications—complete with realistic logos, formatting, and even fake account activity summaries. The goal is the same as always: trick you into clicking a link and handing over your credentials. But because the design is so polished, even cautious users have paused before realizing something is off. ...

Chrome Extension Warning: How Productivity Tools Can Become Attack Vectors If you use Chrome at work or at home, you probably have a handful of extensions installed. A grammar checker, a tab manager, a password tool. They make daily tasks faster. But over the past year, a growing number of these seemingly harmless add-ons have turned into entry points for attackers. ...

1 in 3 Americans Have Fallen for an Online Shopping Scam: How to Avoid Being Next If you’ve ever clicked a too-good-to-be-true deal on social media and later realized the product never arrived, you’re not alone. A new study from the Pew Research Center, released in November 2025, found that about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33% of U.S. adults — a sobering number, especially with the holiday shopping season ramping up. ...

Don’t Get Fooled by This Google Scam That Looks Exactly Like the Real Thing If you use Gmail, Google Drive, or any other Google service, a convincing new phishing scam is worth knowing about. It mimics Google’s official login screens and notifications so closely that even experienced users have been caught off guard. This isn’t a hypothetical threat—the scam is actively circulating as of late April 2026, as reported by Reader’s Digest. ...

Is That Productivity Chrome Extension a Backdoor? How to Spot Fake Tools Browser extensions have long been a convenient way to add features to Chrome, from grammar checkers to tab managers. But a recent wave of attacks shows that some “productivity tools” are anything but helpful. Security researchers and the FBI have begun investigating cases where seemingly legitimate extensions quietly exfiltrate user data, acting as backdoors into both personal accounts and corporate networks. Here’s what happened, why it matters for you, and how to clean up your browser. ...

Nearly One in Three Americans Have Experienced an Online Shopping Scam: What to Know and How to Protect Yourself If you shop online, you’re not alone in worrying about scams. Recent data from the Pew Research Center puts a number on that concern: about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 32 percent of U.S. adults, based on a Pew survey conducted in 2025. ...