Avoid Cyber Monday shopping scams

Retailers anticipate Monday will be the biggest and best Cyber Monday ever; however, those good deals could also lure online thieves.

Online shopping is an attractive option year-round, not to mention during the holiday shopping season.  Shoppers don't have to battle crowds or wait in long lines -- with one click online you've purchased the year's hottest item.

Unfortunately, that one click could be a hacker's heaven.

Research shows most people will shop on their mobile devices during Cyber Monday.  In fact, about 71 percent of tablet owners and 53 percent of smartphone owners will shop online.

Security software for these devices is behind compared to that of desktop computers.

Experts say users should avoid downloading innocent looking holiday apps and be especially leery of emails that claim to have found that hard-to-find gift.

Another way to protect yourself is to set up a password when creating accounts for online retailers that doesn't include familiar names or your street address.

"Use a password that's at least eight characters long and that is a mixture of numbers, letters, special characters and doesn't include any real words that you would find in the dictionary," said Kelly Davis-Felner, with WiFi Alliance.

Internet security experts also caution against clicking on online coupons and offers, especially those involving well-known delivery services.

Even holiday screensavers can load your computer with malware, giving hackers access to your entire computer.

There's one thing shoppers can remember to keep themselves and their devices safe -- if it's too good to be true, it probably is.