With Cyber Monday giving holiday shoppers another chance to try to find some deals, the Better Business Bureau serving Connecticut is providing information about how to avoid falling victim to an online scam.

The BBB says that the number of people shopping through social media is expected to double this year, and as a result, some of the biggest issues it has been seeing so far is scammers creating fake pop-up adds and accounts through sits likes Instagram and TikTok.

Because of that, BBB Serving Connecticut Director of Communications Kristen Johnson says if you see something you like, it is important to take a step back, instead of just clicking buy right there on the page.

"Look at when the profile was created - is it brand new? Because if it is, it's probably a fake," Johnson says.

She also recommends not buying straight through the social media apps - since those can also be fake accounts.

"If they have an actual website, shop through their website instead of their store, because unfortunately, scammers can take over stores, they can take over profiles just like they do on Facebook or Instagram, so you don't necessarily know who you're dealing with," Johnson explained.

She also says to double check the web address of any site - noting that scammers often will misspell a popular website by one letter, in hopes of fooling people.

Another easy thing to look for, according to Johnson, is to check the URL bar, where a picture of a lock all the way on the left side, as well as the letter "s" in the address, after "http" are both signs that the connection is secure.

Johnson says one other thing that is common this time of year is a fake deal from a website, where they will claim a product is being discounted at a high rate, but in fact, they just increased its normal base price, making the "sale price" exactly the same as it would have been any other time.

In general, Johnson says the best rule of thumb is just not to buy impulsively or emotionally, take a step back, and know that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The BBB also has an online scam tracker (****link here and put in N's and L's ) which can be used to look up anything that seems suspicious, or report anything that does not deliver.