We are in an environment where information is changing fast. Which makes it tough to know when someone is trying to commit fraud.

Hackers and spammers know this as well and are taking full advantage of the situation.

Phishing scams, hacking, data mining and more are seeing a sharp uptick. And with more users than ever surfing the web and social media at the same time, security measures that once were sufficient are now weakened.

What can a smart internet and social media consumer do? Stay vigilant.

Double-check anything that might seem suspicious. Don’t click links without knowing for sure who sent them. This is tricky on Facebook where accounts are regularly hacked and messages are sent that appear to be coming from a friend, but aren’t.

Watch for language that doesn’t feel natural. Ask if that message is really from your friend and wait for verification. Of course, when all else fails, contact them via phone or text. It never hurts to be sure.

Enable two-factor authentication wherever possible to protect your accounts from being hacked.

Never click unknown links and never ever download a suspicious attachment.

Also, never follow a link from your email and give your login information, usually, that’s a phishing scam. Always navigate to the site yourself by typing it in.

Generally, just be on the lookout for something that seems odd, because it probably is.