BISMARCK, N.D. -- Over the coming weeks, North Dakotans will be clicking the "purchase" button as they order holiday gifts online, and fraud experts say scammers are finding ways to exploit consumers.

Amy Nofziger, director of fraud victim support for AARP, urged the public to avoid abrupt transactions done with little research, adding fake social-media ads are a big concern this year.

She said as people quickly scroll through online ads, they might not do enough vetting to make sure the company behind a post is real. She added supply chain issues could prompt people to bypass trusted companies through internet searches.

"And they're finding these websites that look legitimate, but they're not," Nofziger observed. "Take the name of the company, put it in a search engine, and do your research. "

When entering the unknown company's name, she suggested typing the words review, scam and complaints to see what pops up. Another common scam right now is getting a message disguised as a warning from well-known delivery companies, indicating something went wrong with a shipment to your address. Experts pointed out the messages often include harmful links.

Parrell Grossman, director of the consumer protection and antitrust division for the North Dakota Attorney General's Office, said they continue to field calls for a variety of scams, including online romance situations where someone loses their money to the person they connected with.

He worries people might be more vulnerable to those scenarios right now.

"When you're lonely at the holidays, it might be the time you decide to engage with someone over the internet," Grossman remarked. "And they can be very convincing, and they will have a myriad of reasons why they need money."

Nofziger emphasized you should never feel ashamed about falling victim to a scam, and taking immediate action is the best approach.

"These are good criminals that are targeting you to steal your money," Nofziger cautioned. "You should be mad, you should be empowered to report it."

Despite the pandemic, North Carolina has seen a record number of new businesses created in the past year.

A report from the Secretary of State's office says new business filings for 2021 grew 40% over 2020, for a total of more than 178,000 new businesses in the state. The previous record had been set in 2020, and new business growth overall has more than doubled since 2017.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said the state is seeing a lot of homegrown activity, with residents inspired to start their own small businesses in an effort to find more flexibility during the pandemic.

"And I know a lot of folks that took their hobby and they decided to up their game," said Marshall. "They started working on it, perfecting it, maybe mass-producing it in some effects. Or they took an online course, to learn how to do something totally brand new for relaxation and said, 'I can make a business out of this.'"

The trend can be seen across the country, too, with Montana and Ohio also reporting record levels of new business creation in 2021.

Last year, the Secretary of State's office surveyed new businesses created in the last three years and found 90% still in operation.

Looking ahead, Marshall said it's smart to keep an eye on news headlines in the state when looking for potential new business ideas - such as the new Plant Sciences Initiative at North Carolina State University for research on sustainable agriculture.

"Those kinds of things will provide niches for folks in rural areas," said Marshall. "If we can get more productivity out of our land, if we can get diversity in productivity out of our land, all of those will create opportunities for folks in the rural areas."

Marshall said her department's new "Web Wizards," an interactive tool, has helped speed up the application process to incorporate a business in the state.

Mobile carriers are starting to decommission their 3G cellular networks this year, some as soon as next month.

Pennsylvania officials are reminding people with older-model cell phones to prepare for how this might affect service. Decommissioning older networks helps free up infrastructure to support more advanced services, like 5G, but it may result in some phones being unable to make calls or send text messages.

Jeff Boyle, deputy director of 911 for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said you are likely to be notified by your carrier if it affects you, but it is smart to plan ahead in case of an emergency.

"If your phone is more than a few years old, you may need to upgrade your device to avoid losing service," Boyle explained. "And calling 911 is often the quickest way for somebody to access emergency services, so plan now so that you don't lose connectivity, including the ability to call 911."

AT&T said it will finish shutting down its 3G network by February, with Verizon and T-Mobile finalizing by year's end. The move may also affect medical alert devices and home security systems. Lower-income residents whose phones may no longer be supported can apply for help through the FCC's Lifeline program.

Lt. Adam Reed, communications office director for the Pennsylvania State Police, said in an emergency, dispatchers and first responders rely on the 911 system to gather crucial information, including location, which means 3G network phones may hinder the ability to provide assistance quickly.

"Whether it's a vehicle crash, a criminal act in progress or a medical emergency, seconds count when it comes to calling 911," Reed emphasized. "First responders will go wherever we need to save lives and help wherever we can, but again, we need to know where you are and what the emergency is."

Groups serving people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence survivors sometimes provide clients with older phones with no service plan but are still capable of making emergency calls. Users of such phones should check with their organization to discuss options.

The recent deaths of a family of seven have renewed bipartisan attempts to keep homes safe from carbon monoxide. One North Dakota fire chief welcomes federal efforts from both sides of the aisle in creating awareness.

In December, the victims were found in a home near the North Dakota/Minnesota border, with carbon-monoxide poisoning suspected. This week, U.S. Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged a federal agency to release more information on what's being done to prevent these tragedies.

Even with a divided government, Chief Rex Weltikol of the Minot Rural Fire Department said he hopes the response provides more opportunities to learn from what happened.

"When the news comes out that all these bad things happen," he said, "there's got to be some good that comes out of that also."

Specifically, the chief said, doing more to promote installing home carbon-monoxide detectors is important. In their letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the senators want details on how it's coordinating with states on safety outreach, including educational materials that are multilingual. The victims in the recent tragedy were members of an immigrant family from Honduras.

Elsewhere, this month's deadly apartment building fire in New York City has renewed calls to look into racial disparities in the safety threats facing renters. Weltikol said he feels this is an area where public servants can go above and beyond to help communities.

"The way we look at it here," he said, "there's never, never enough reaching out to everybody to let them know the dangers of it."

The two senators have co-sponsored legislation in past sessions encouraging states to require residential carbon-monoxide detectors. In 2017, state leaders in North Dakota were criticized for rejecting a bill requiring them for certain rental properties. Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed it, citing individual responsibility in adding safeguards.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.