Top scams targeting shoppers this holiday season
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Nowhere is safe from scammers this holiday season as deepfakes, scam texts and polished phishing emails flood shoppers' inboxes and social feeds.
Why it matters: Generative AI tools have made scams look frighteningly believable and easier than ever to fall for.
Driving the news: Cybersecurity and financial firms are warning of a spike in realistic phishing emails and texts, cloned e-commerce sites, and deepfake social media ads ahead of this year's shopping season.
The big picture: 62% of Americans say they're likely to buy something immediately when they see a holiday deal online, according to a Norton report published in October.
- That impulse leaves little time to catch scam red flags.
Here are the top scams experts say to be wary of as you hunt for deals:
1. Lookalike digital storefronts
Scammers continue to clone legitimate e-commerce sites to steal credit card info and push counterfeit goods.
- They often use URLs that differ from the real ones by just a single letter and then amplify those sites via social media ads and phishing emails.
- Amazon, Temu and other luxury brands are among the most impersonated during the holiday season, according to Forcepoint.
Between the lines: Large language models and autonomous AI agents let fraudsters spin up convincing storefronts far faster:
- Chatbots can generate product descriptions and marketing copy.
- Agents can write and execute the backend code for entire pages.
- AI-powered image generation tools create logos and fake product photos.
By the numbers: 72% of shoppers said in a recent Mastercard survey that they buy merchandise from unfamiliar websites.
- In past holiday seasons, nearly one in five of them have experienced items that never arrived and 16% of shoppers said they'd received counterfeit goods.
2. Fake holiday deal phishing emails
Expect a wave of emails posing as retailers offering steep discounts or "exclusive" holiday drops. These messages closely mimic legitimate brand emails, often linking to those lookalike storefronts designed to steal credentials.
- Fraudsters are also sending fake refund notices and order-problem alerts, according to research from both Forcepoint and McAfee.
- And they're using AI tools to perfect the language in phishing emails, removing the grammatical errors that people are usually advised to look out for.
3. Delivery and shipping scam texts
Researchers expect a surge in texts exploiting shoppers' eagerness to track holiday packages.
Zoom in: Messages often claim a missed delivery or demand an extra payment to confirm an address. Some even request the recipients' Social Security numbers, according the Federal Trade Commission.
- Scammers will also redirect recipients to fake tracking sites carrying USPS, UPS or FedEx branding, or hide malware behind a "tracking" link.
Catch up quick: People lost $470 million to text-based scams in 2024, with delivery scams being the biggest culprit, according to the latest FTC numbers.
4. Deepfake social media ads
Scammers are now using generative AI to produce realistic video ads promoting fake stores.
How it works: AI cloning tools are used to mimic celebrities' voices and faces to sell bogus discounts via TikTok or Instagram that send views to the counterfeit storefront's website.
- McAfee researchers have even uncovered a deepfake video that cloned Taylor Swift's voice to offer a bogus deal for Le Creuset cookware sets.
Threat level: 54% of Americans said they've made holiday purchases through social media advertisements, according to Norton.
5. Gift card scams
Gift cards remain a scammer favorite, according to the Retail & Hospitality ISAC.
- The RH-ISAC anticipates gift card sales will spike around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- 72% of consumers plan to purchase a gift card as a holiday gift this season, according to new AARP data.
Yes, but: One in three shoppers say they have given or received a gift card that unexpectedly had no balance on it.
State of play: Fraudsters steal card numbers and PINs from physical packaging and rapidly drain the funds once a card is activated.
- Shoppers should check the packaging on these cards for any visible signs of tampering.
The bottom line: If a deal seems too good to be true, go directly to a retailer's official site to verify it.
- Be skeptical of any text or email requesting payment — especially delivery fees or gift card codes — and call customer service before entering credit card information.
Go deeper: Holiday shoppers trade up — and down
