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4 min read
Common holiday scams unwrapped
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Just like you, fraudsters love the holidays. They know you’re busy, distracted and full of holiday cheer. All which makes it even easier to fall for their gift-wrapped scams that are even more convincing, personalized and automated thanks to AI.
To help you stay safe during the holidays, and year round, we’ve unwrapped the most common holiday scams along with some practical safety tips.
One thing to keep in mind is that financial institutions typically follow information security guidelines and never reach out to ask for personal or sensitive information. If you get a request for your banking username, password, account number, routing number or your complete Social Security number, be very suspicious. Contact your financial institution via a number you’ve verified from a trusted source like a monthly statement, your financial institution’s app or its official web site.
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LESSON CONTENTS
AI-driven impersonations
Scammers use AI to send highly realistic messages (even voice cloned) posing as family, friends and even coworkers. Their goal: to trick you into quickly sending emergency money or sharing sensitive codes or passwords.
Tip: Start a fresh message thread or hang up and call using the contact information you’ve historically used — and that you can validate — to reach your family/friend/coworker.
Social media and marketplace scams
Beware of too-good-to-be-true listings for hot gift items, event tickets, rentals, pets and luxury goods on Facebook Marketplace, Instagram and classifieds that ask for payment via P2P apps, gift cards or wire transfers.
Tip: Be wary of massive discounts. Research the seller’s profile history for brand-new or low-activity history and bad reviews. Pay securely: One option is a platform-integrated payment system. Avoid paying via wire transfers, crypto or gift cards, which offer no protection.
Surveys and subscriptions promising gift cards
Be skeptical of promises that you’ll receive gift cards from major retailers like Walmart, Target, or Amazon for simply taking a survey or signing up for offers. These campaigns are typically used to steal your data or are a subscription scam.
Tip: Go to the retailer's official website and search within it to validate the offer.
Charity and disaster relief scams
To exploit holiday giving and newsworthy disasters, fraudsters promote fake charities and fundraisers, often via social media or phone calls. To gain trust and appear legitimate, scammers may slightly change the name of a well-known charity. They then direct donations to their personal accounts or crypto wallets.
Tip: Research charities using independent resources, like Charity Navigator. If donating online, go directly to the charity’s official site and look for “https” in the URL. For fraud protection, donate via a credit card or other secure payment method with dispute rights: Don’t use gift cards, crypto, P2P or wire transfers.
Travel deals and rental frauds
These scams use phony travel sites, deeply discounted vacation packages and getaway-worthy rentals. Fraudsters then collect payments and personal information for trips and stays that don’t exist.
Tip: Rely on official sites. Type the URL yourself. Use secure payments, like credit cards or trusted platforms that offer dispute rights. Be very cautious of using P2P apps, crypto or gift cards for paying a business.