CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The FBI and BBB are urging holiday shoppers to stay vigilant as fraudulent activity surges during the busiest shopping season of the year, with scammers targeting unsuspecting consumers for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Officials say this time of year brings a predictable spike in scams, from fake charity appeals to phishing emails disguised as legitimate retailers.

Dalton Hartman, a Charlotte resident, said his grandparents nearly fell victim to one such scheme when scammers posing as Microsoft representatives called claiming their computer had a virus.

"They had a call, hey this is Microsoft, your computer has a virus. They didn't have a virus," Hartman said. "I'm sure it was a data leak with their phone information like everyone gets spam calls 24/7."

Hartman s

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