ATLANTA — As the holiday shopping season kicks into gear, cybersecurity experts are warning that it’s also the most dangerous time of the year to be online.

Former FBI cybersecurity expert Eric O’Neill says cybercriminals are ramping up their attacks across social media, email, and text messages, and they’re getting better at it.

“I think about 8 out of 10 are going to get scammed in some way, shape, or form,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill says top cybercrime groups are even hiring former intelligence officers to teach them how to deceive consumers into giving up personal information or money. He warns that text-based scams are the most common this season, and they all have one thing in common: urgency.

“One thing that every single one of these scams is going to have is urgency,” he said. “That sense of urgency and a deal that is too good to be true; if those two things are together, stop and think before you click because it could lead to a scam.”

O’Neill points to fake delivery texts as one of the biggest red flags this year. “What you might get is some sort of text that you’re going through really quickly and it might say ‘In the holiday season we tried to deliver your package but we couldn’t because we’re holding it at our warehouse, click here to schedule your delivery,’” he explained. “Never click on a link that’s sent via text.”

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, O’Neill says scammers are “rubbing their hands together” as they prepare to take advantage of distracted shoppers.

His advice: think before you click, verify before you buy, and remember that if a deal sounds too good to be true — it probably is.

WSB Radio’s Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.