>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> i am kristen sze. you are watching "getting answers." we ask experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers for you. this is national bullying prevention month, a good time to address bullies in the workplace and what you can do about it. are you maxing out the rewards and freebies using credit card points? tips that can save you a lot of money. technology is always evolving, and so are scammers. there's a new one involving qr

codes that the better business bureau is warning us about today, and joining us is the head of engineering at checkpoint, a cybersecurity company based in the bay area. thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. kristen: this is definitely a big issue, scammers using qr codes to cheat us out of our money. how are they doing it? >> qr codes are becoming a big part of our lives, replacing menus, providing information we may want to seek, and what we've seen an increase of is qr codes gathering information you aren't planning on sharing, and if you do share the information, it could be going somewhere you don't expect, someone looking to take that information from you. kristen: is this happening frequently? >> it has seen an increase.

the pandemic has changed the way we are changing -- exchanging information. it gives people a contactless way of providing a menu, like i mentioned, so we see this scam increasing because of the way our daily lives have changed. mobile malware is up multiple percentage points, so those two things is what we want to warn consumers of. kristen: walk us through. i know you created a situation where you tested it out to see what scammers can do. walk us through. you created a qr code. >> i created a qr code that had a way of sharing information back to me as the potential scammer of what information i could gather, just from someone making what you see here.

what ends up happening is that a lot of times these qr codes have an intermediary step where information is being shared. it could be what kind of phone you are using. it could be what city you are coming from. when you couple that with information like your name and address, it puts together a complete picture scammers can use against you. kristen: can you tell me, when i go to a restaurant, the most common the thing is menus, but there are other things -- i used a qr code to get my vaccination to. how do you know if it is a real one or a fake one that a scammer slapped a sticker over? >> there is one proactive thing you can do, and there are qr scanning applications that look for a lot of the fake

destinations, which are the sites collecting information, since giving you the proper menu or the covid-19 information to. it's just by looking at where you are going to. these phishing spelling is off, or the punctuation is off. it's a shortened url. it may have the site you are going to, but it's not in the right place. there's a lot of common sense just looking at it, taking a look at how it is being presented. kristen: they qr code is easy to create, right? >> it is very simple. if you go to a specific website, you can create a qr code on demand. there are plenty of free qr code

applications on the internet, as well. it's very easy to do. that causes this increase with these scams we are seeing. kristen: i'm not a techie, but i think of it like a door. once you get in the door, if if looks bad, then you get out. is that a good way of looking at it? >> it's a great analogy. the qr code itself is something that is safe. the qr code is just a redirection, either providing you contact information on the spot or opening that door, like you mentioned, to get to a specific website. it's really just a matter of closing out. it's a really good analogy. it's the same thing with phi shing. the url looks wrong. close it out, and consult an expert, as well.

kristen: what can you do if you think you have been scammed? let's say you put in some info, and you go, uh-oh, i notic spelling looks off, the url is off -- what do you do? >> if you are not providing information, that's a good start. if you go to the point where you provided -- i had a story where someone went through the process, and afterward, it's like, this doesn't seem right, and you follow the same procedures you would if someone got a hold of your credit card information in the same way. go through that same process. kristen: look, general? this is your business. anything pandemic related or fueled that is prompting all of these scams? >> a couple quick things. overall, we see about a 40%

increase in malicious traffic year-to-year. that is a significant in cybercrime, but like you mentioned, a lot of the things we would expect scammers to take advantage of, things tied to the pandemic, goods and services we are looking for, things shifting more online, those are the areas with the biggest surfaces. kristen: i want to get back to the qr codes because this is so new, and this is the new thing the better business bureau is warning us about. are there questions that are asked when you go to a particular place that should be a red flag? that pop up. we will go back to the restaurant example.

if you are going to a menu and expecting to see what order you are placing, you don't expect them to ask you for information. if you are going to a site make a purchase and you are making that scan, it is kind of a red flag. usually, you are not making a purchase from a qr code. it is some of those obvious things you want to keep and i out for. kristen: -- an eye out for. kristen: appreciate it. coming up next, bullying in the workplace.

kristen: october is national bullying prevention month. many think bullying is something that happens in school, but in reality, it doesn't stop. bullying in the workplace may be on the rise. joining us is dr. wayne parnell who has a doctorate in psychology to talk about this phenomenon. thanks for your time. >> it is amazing. the statistics are staggering. kristen: a recent report says nearly 49 million americans have been bullied at work. that is number one. can you break down that figure? >> 30% of people surveyed sa they had direct experience being bullied. that is ridiculous. a little over 43% of bullyin reports come from people doing

remote work. 43%, ridiculous. it is horrible to think about. 49% of the workers are affectedd by bullying, and that includes witnesses. that, could i ask my producer to put that graphic back up? i wanted to impact that. 30% experienced being bullied. that is up 57%, a huge increase from 2017. what do you think is driving that increase? >> that is a great question. if you think about it, i am going to attribute a portion of it to the shutting we have experienced.

into a corner, it will start to growl and snap. for most of us who have an easy-going and have been willing to let a few things slide, it's a time where aggression starts to step in or be exhibited. i am going to say that the pandemic can be a cause of it or a correlational cause. we need to pay special attention to what we can do instead. kristen: we've seen all of those cute puppies that have been backed into a corner. you said about 43% of those bullying reports were from people doing remote work. how does one get bullied remotely? it seems like you would be more protected. >> the late-term for that is

blame storming. it's like, you didn't do your work on time. in group zoom meetings, what happens is, one person goes, i was waiting for so-and-so to do their thing. kristen: what are some of the other forms of bullying you have heard of that are common right now? >> i think gossip is a thing the. the social climbing that happens normally could be offset workplace. i think that that that that that

certain social conversations. kristen:kristen: we are to have any -- kristen: we aren't having any here. >> there's a question raised about somebody over here, and it's not necessarily direct. you think of bullying as being in school, and somebody passes you in the hallway and pounds you or is mean to you. this is different. bullying is like creating a a aa clique where you get a certain number of people to start questioning another person, and that person is left to go like, wait a minute. i'm doing my job. if i had the information, this wouldn't be a question. that person is left to look slightly stupid and hanging. kristen:kristen: i know you

serve as a success coach, so coach folks through. if viewers are feeling like they are experiencing bullying, how can they address these issues? >> the key is to know your self-worth. if someone calls someone calls o doesn't fit you, you can ignore it. if someone calls you a name that could fit you, you get to choose , does it for you? if you were called a purple spotted mongoose, would you go, how dare you say that? if you are called a slacker have to decide, is that yours? kristen: bump? through the roof. >> that is so great. i love that. that is remote working.

that is what we do. kristen: i'm interested in hearing about if you decide, ok, i'm going to stay here, but how can i make it better? talk us through the scenario if you decide this is it, what do you know it is time to pick up and leave? >> organizations. people leave people. is there a conversation, a direct conversation where you know your identity, you know what you value, you know who you are, and you get to say, i prefer to be treated a certain way, and if you can't have that conversation, can you get help? is it possible to get help from human resources?

human resources has to investigate hostile workplace claims. don't make a false claim, but you might want to enlist their help. is there another department you could be transferred to, or is it just unbearable? i think knowing it is time to leave and choosing to leave is about the dynamic transition. you look at your values from 20 years ago. you know you are different from where you were 20 years or so. you do this thing that nobody does, which is look at who you want to become, and you look at the values you need to live into to start making that happen. it is one of the things in my best-selling book, it is dynamic transitions, and it's about a values journey.

who are you looking to become? it's i think that is important. we plan our vacations more than we plan our life path. what do you value? where are you headed? kristen: thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. >> it's a pleasure. kristen: we want to see that cat again appeared what is the best credit card to use to get the best rewards? we will talk to the points

peak travel season is here, and there are many ways to maximize your credit card points to earn free travel or get money back to help you get the most out of your rewards. we are joined by our guest from the points partner. thanks for your time. >> how are you doing? kristen: we are doing just fine.

i'd be doing even better if i had the key to unlock this. i understand you've been traveling the world, and you say we can too if we use the right credit cards in the right way. >> absolutely. everyone in america has credit cards, but most of them don't use them correctly. you get points. there are three different benefits you can get from credit cards. there's cash back, air and there is card points. they are not all created equal. 1% cashback is worth less than one air mile, and one air mile is worth less than one credit card point. just by getting the right credit card and using it the right way, you will get more points. you need to learn how to use

them correctly so you can book your free travel around the world. kristen: there are so many things i want to get into, but can i ask you, where have you traveled to for free, and what kind of experiences are you getting on your travel for free? are we talking budget, luxury echo where are we going? >> as a generalization, i've traveled the globe and not paid a penny for it. i'm no different from anyone else. i just read the terms and conditions and understood which credit card to use at the right place, and then learn how to use those points efficiently. what most people don't realize is credit card points can be transferred. you can send them out of the credit card companies and into airlines. if you do that at the right time, you will get yourself on planes around the world for

free. with my website, i'm helping everybody else do it, too. kristen: i've generally gone with cashback, but you are telling me that is worth less than the air miles. should we be switching to credit card points? these benefits are designed demographically. if you are so monde -- someone below $40,000, cashback will be your best option. you could do with the extra cash. if you or somebody working for a large organization, perhaps air miles will help you upgrade a coach ticket, and for everyone else, which is the vast majority of people, it is going to be credit card points. kristen: i know you are not

working on behalf of any company, so how do we pick the right credit card for us? do we look at where we spend money? >> you've hit the nail on the head. print out your last credit card statement and see where you spend your money. are you spending it on food and drink, grocery stores, supermarkets? are you spending it on travel? are you spending it on marketing for your business? then you can go to my website and go through all the credit cards and see which one will give you bonus points for that spend. you just need to pick the amount of credit cards for the right amount of categories. this is a two way game. you've got points coming in and appoints going out. points coming in is about using the right credit cards at the right time. using the points on the way out,

how do you burn them? how do you redeem them? that is more complicated, but i have tons of master classes you can take of my website that will teach you how to move these things around so you can derive as much value as possible. the easiest way to understand it is the average american is getting back less than 1% of what they spend on their credit card in sub form of -- some form of benefit. that can be as much as 13%, and 13% and 14% saved is not the same as earning their team percent, 14% more. -- 13%, 14% more. if you want to give yourself a 15% pay raise in free travel, use the right credit cards at the right time. kristen: we only have 30 seconds, but i want to address this. people can get into debt, and

it's dangerous to have too many credit cards. how do we work the system without getting ourselves in trouble? >> the number one rule is that this game doesn't even begin until you say, i'm going to payoff my credit card bill in full every single month, no questions asked. that is the prerequisite to coming to hang out with me on six foot beds on planes. kristen: don't go away. i was injured in a car crash. i had no idea how much my case was worth. i called the barnes firm. when a truck hit my son, i had so many questions about his case. i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. your case is often worth more than insurance offers. call the barnes firm to find out

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kristen: thank you for joining us on this interactive show getting answers. we will be here everyda 3:00. "world news tonight" is coming up next.

i will see you at 4:00. tonight, breaking news in the gabby petito case. the autopsy results released late today. what the coroner in wyoming has now determined. her body left outside in the wilderness 3 to 4 weeks before being discovered. the autopsy now revealing the cause of death. also tonight, the battle over vaccine mandates. in texas, the governor facing a possible legal challenge after signing an executive order banning employers from requiring workers to be fully vaccinated. and tonight, news on potential boosters for moderna and johnson & johnson. what we've learned. our team on the scene. the wildfire emergency forcing evacuations in california's santa barbara county. firefighters now battling to protect the ronald reagan ranch.

new images tonight. the moments just before that