The holidays are the time of year when spirits are high, joy is in the air, and people are ready to spend time with their loved ones. Unfortunately, it’s also a time of year when scammers take it upon themselves to become the real-life holiday Grinch.
Scammers know cash is flowing during the holidays, both in gift shopping and charity giving. That means whether you’re doing some online shopping, or trying to do a good deed, you’ll want to be on the lookout for some of these common holiday scams.
Who's Calling Me?
Search any phone number to learn more about the owner!
1. Website Scams
Every year a whole lot of shopping takes place between Black Friday and New Year’s Day. That means a whole lot of scamming happens too. With online shopping being the main method of gift purchasing, scammers have taken it upon themselves to drum up a bunch of fake websites, some entirely fake, others direct clones of legitimate businesses. Here’s what to look out for.
- Fake websites: Everybody loves to find a good deal, but, unknown websites/sellers can often be a case of too good to be true. You order, you pay, but no product ever arrives. The vendor either disappears or “ghosts” you and can’t be contacted.
- Spoofed websites: Website spoofing is a tactic used by scammers to clone legitimate websites to trick users into thinking they are shopping with a legitimate store. In this case, the entire site is bogus, but designed to pop up near the top of your search results. They’ll take your money as well as your credit card data and private information, keeping the former and selling (or exploiting) the latter.
How to stay safe: When it comes to holiday shopping (or any shopping, really) always be sure to do a little research before buying from new or unknown sites. If information doesn’t add up, or the deals are just way too good, think twice. Even if you do think you know who you’re buying from, never go to a shop’s website through links you received in an email or text, and always double-check that the URL is correct and secure.
2. Charity Scams
The holidays are a season of giving, with loved ones and charities being the intended recipients. Between established organizations and GoFundMe campaigns, there’s no shortage of options for your generosity, but you’ll want to make sure your money is going where you intend, and not into a scammer’s pocket.
How to stay safe: Should you decide to donate this holiday season, be cautious of phone calls, mail, and bogus websites attempting to solicit funds for fictitious charities or even masquerading as well-known, legitimate charities. Just like when shopping online, always go directly to the website of the intended charity, and make sure the URL is correct and secure. Also, be on the lookout for fake crowdfunding efforts, which will often fabricate some compelling story from scratch or even exploit a real tragedy from the news.
3. Travel Scams
As travel peaks over the holidays, so too, do travel scams. The big offenders here are bogus travel sites and call centers. You may see an ad in your search results or on social media, or you may see an emailed “Special Offer!” in your inbox. If you call the number, or click the link, the scammers will cheerfully book you a room at the hotel of your choice, schedule a flight and a rental car, or sell you travel insurance.
The catch, of course, is that they have no connection with that hotel chain or airline, and your money is lost. If you’re really unfortunate, they’ll also have harvested enough of your private information to be worth selling.
How to stay safe: First and foremost, don’t jump on that top search result. Scammers can simply buy a prominent placement on Google, Facebook, or other platforms, and use it to send travelers to their bogus site. Instead, look up the official site of that hotel or its parent chain, or a legitimate travel agency or travel aggregator. Google’s image search is your friend here, too: The same photo may show up on multiple vacation rental sites with different contact names and emails.
4. Pet Scams
Pet adoptions are big around the holidays, and scammers are willing to cross any moral boundary for a chance to steal some money. A particularly heartless fraud, scammers use photos and descriptions “scraped” from legitimate adoption sites to sell nonexistent pets. After you’ve paid for the pet (and any associated costs like getting the pet to you or vet expenses), you’ll be out a significant dollar amount and have no pet to show for it.
How to stay safe: Your best bet is to adopt in person if you have the ability, but if you are absolutely set on a sweet pooch located far away, a basic web search will tell you whether a shelter by that name exists. If buying from a small breeder, using a resource like Spokeo can tell you whether the person’s information is legit, and if they have any red flags that might alert you to fraudulent behavior. Alternatively, uploading a picture of the supposed pup into Google’s image search can tell you if it’s been scraped from another source, which is a dead giveaway.
5. Fraudulent Seasonal Jobs
Job scams are always floating around, but seasonal jobs, particularly around summer and the holidays, seem to be a hotbed for scam activity. Since people are often looking for some extra money for gifts, scammers will post job vacancies that look real and often promise easy access for people with any background or skill set. They’ll have you fill out the applications and onboarding forms, and then promptly disappear with your private information.
How to stay safe: Most legitimate businesses will have some level of hiring process beyond filling out a form online or having some short correspondence. If the process feels way too short or easy, it’s time to do some digging. Always ensure the hiring business actually exists, and only apply through the real, legitimate company website.
6. Secondhand Deal Scams
OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace are great places to score second-hand items, but caution is a requirement when shopping from unknown sellers. This applies especially to items like knockoffs substituted for brand-name products, used or refurbished products sold as new, or items — including holiday decorations — that are not at all “as shown.”
How to stay safe: One benefit to some of the newer secondhand shopping services like OfferUp is the existence of verified profiles and reviews from other users who have interacted with each other. It’s good to be cautious no matter who you are dealing with, but users who have submitted documents such as IDs and phone numbers will often have some sort of verification mark, signaling a higher chance of legitimacy. Beyond that, look for red flags like suspiciously good deals, weird payment requests, or inconsistent details. As a side note, always meet somewhere safe like a police station or designated meet-up/trade locations.
7. Gift Card Scams
While gift cards make great gifts (it’s literally in the name), they also make great tools for scammers. That’s because gift cards are nearly impossible to trace or refund. When it comes to holiday gift card scams, the biggest one you’ll want to watch out for is simply buying empty gift cards. It can certainly be tempting to buy a gift card that’s worth more than the seller is charging, but that’s usually the case because the card doesn’t actually have any money left on it.
How to stay safe: Only buy gift cards directly from authorized stores. That means no matter how good the deal, gift cards are not something worth buying secondhand. You’ll also want to make sure any physical gift cards you’re purchasing haven’t been tampered with, as people will sometimes steal the card info without actually taking the gift card. You’ll also want to avoid making any payments with gift cards outside of their intended store, as any request for payment via gift card is a giant flashing sign that you’re dealing with a scammer.
8. Missed Delivery Scams
By now you’ve probably heard of phishing — scams involving sending links that redirect users to malicious sites. Scammers use phishing links every day, but they find extra success during the holidays with missed delivery scams. During the holidays packages are being sent around left and right, so when a text or email pops up letting you know your package has gone missing, you’ll likely be interested. The problem is that it isn’t FedEx, UPS, or USPS on the other end, it’s a scammer hoping you’ll click on the link and give up valuable information in what you think is a bid to get your package back on track.
How to stay safe: Delivery companies will never ask you to pay or give your SSN in order to find a package. They will also alert you via the legitimate tracking number you received when you placed your order, meaning you can always check that if you’re unsure of a package’s status. Above all else, (this applies to every day, not just the holidays) don’t click on any links unless you’re 100% sure you know who sent it!
Haul Out the Holly
The bottom line? Yes, scammers are out there and yes, they will do their best to dampen your holiday spirit if you let them. So don’t let them.
Do all the things you look forward to during the holidays — decorating, meals, travel, and gift giving — and enjoy your time with your loved ones. Educating yourself about holiday scams, and knowing how to detect and avoid them, takes you out of the “easy target” category and makes it easier to just celebrate the holidays.
Cyrus Grant is a writer from Southern California with a background in law and dispute resolution. When he isn’t writing he can be found deep-diving into the latest technology trends or simply spending time at the beach.