Parents are at risk of accidentally ordering gifts by discussing them in front of their Alexa devices.
A cyber security expert has warned that people may buy items by mistake without realising, via virtual assistant devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Discussing Christmas present ideas in the same rooms as their devices can lead to parents being left out of pocket.
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Speaking to The Sun, Matt Horan of C3IA solutions said virtual assistant device can interpret personal conversations as commands, which can lead to items accidentally being ordered online.
So if people are talking about the latest toys for gifts, they may end up with more than they bargained for.
"With Christmas approaching I can foresee many people answering doors to delivery drivers with packages that the person knows nothing about - and which their 'home helper' has ordered for them," he said.
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"Last year these virtual assistants were enormously popular Christmas presents and this year they might be ordering the families' presents for them.
"The most sensible [approach] is to disable the voice purchasing element of the device, or at least set up a passcode."
Horan added you can also turn the devices off when talking about items you might purchase.
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If you do end up mistakenly ordering presents through an Alexa, you can return them for free on Amazon.
Earlier this year, experts warned Amazon's Echo smart speaker might not as secure as people think.
The speaker lets you control Alexa by using your voice, but it seems that hackers can get access to it.
Echo only picks up what you're saying if you actually say the word "Alexa" out loud. However a team of security experts have proved that they can spy anyone speaking near the device - scary stuff.
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