They may look like deals from your favorite retailer or even like a celebrity endorses them, but before you click to buy this holiday season, beware.

Experts warn that scammers are increasingly using AI to generate ads on social media, which is making it harder to spot a fake.

These videos are known as "deepfakes" — made to look and sound like real influencers or celebrities promoting products. Earlier this year, AI-generated ads using Taylor Swift's likeness duped some fans with a fake cookware giveaway.

The goal is to lure you to a counterfeit website and steal your personal and payment information. Scammers will often mimic legitimate retailers by creating counterfeit sites with "deals." The only difference is the URL where a single letter might be off, a period is misplaced.

Research from online protection company McAfee shows 1 in 5 people say they — or someone they know — have fallen for a deepfake scam in the past year. Most of these scams are popping up on social media. 

"They're believable because the scammers are able to do so much more with the generative AI at this point," said Abhishek Karnik, head of threat intelligence research at McAfee. "Gone are the days where you could sort of see through what potentially looks like a scam. It's getting to a point where it's almost so real that it's very, very difficult for the everyday person to identify whether it's real or fake."

According to McAfee's research, the fear of scams while shopping has stopped 40% of consumers from completing a holiday purchase.

So what can you do?

• Before buying, check the account and its past posts. Real brands rarely share one-off videos with unfamiliar links.
• Watch for urgent language pushing you to act fast. Scammers want you to hand over your information without thinking.
• Avoid clicking through to a website from an ad or social post. It's best to type the retailer's name directly into your browser instead to ensure you are on the official site.
• Scammers love impersonating celebrities — don't assume it's legit. 

Bottom line, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Huge discounts — 80% or 90% — or freebies like cookware worth hundreds of dollars should be a big red flag.

Looking for help with a consumer issue? Click here to submit your complaint to In Your Corner.