WASHINGTON, D.C. (MyKeeneNow) With the busiest online shopping days of the year approaching, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan is urging Granite Staters to be on guard for a surge in digital scams that often accompany Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Hassan, the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, released a consumer alert Monday outlining how fraud attempts typically escalate during the holiday season. According to data cited in the report, phishing emails impersonating major retailers such as Walmart and Target jumped more than 2,000 percent last year during the late November rush.

The senator said that while inboxes may soon fill with offers for steep discounts, shoppers shouldn’t assume every message is legitimate. Scammers frequently use counterfeit promotions or urgent-sounding alerts to trick consumers into sharing financial information or clicking malicious links.

Hassan’s warning is part of her broader push to curb online fraud. In recent months, she has pressed companies such as SpaceX and Match Group to address how their platforms are exploited by criminals.

The new alert outlines several steps consumers can take to protect themselves, including verifying suspicious messages, avoiding unfamiliar links, researching sellers before buying, and watching for misspelled URLs or unusual domain names. Shoppers are also encouraged to use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and routinely check bank and credit card statements for unauthorized charges.

The report stresses that certain payment methods — including wire transfers, cryptocurrency and gift cards — are especially risky because they are difficult to trace and nearly impossible to recover once sent.

A full copy of the senator’s holiday scam alert is available through her office.