Fraud Education and Prevention Articles

The Holidays Are Scam Season: Top End-of-Year Frauds to Avoid

Nov 07, 2025

During a recent holiday season, L.A. resident Latonya Jackson distributed gift cards to needy community members through her church. Soon after, recipients called to report that their cards had no value — just as they were trying to use them for holiday purchases.1

Unfortunately, Jackson's church was the victim of a gift card scam. Fraudsters had tampered with the gift card packaging just enough to gather information from the back. Then, using a software program, they received an alert when the cards were activated and spent the money immediately. 

"It was very horrible," Jackson told her local news station, "and it was very embarrassing too."

The holiday season is also scam season. During the 2023 holidays, the FBI received 13,000 complaints about non-payment and non-delivery fraud (common online shopping scams), totaling $92 million in losses.2 That two-month stretch accounted for 25% of complaints and close to 30% of losses tied to the scam for the entire year.3 The FBI stopping segmenting holiday season fraud last year, but since 2000 the agency has received more than 9 million internet crime complaints. Over the last five years, there have been 4.2 million complaints, totaling more than $50.5 billion in losses. 

Here are others to keep an extra eye out for this holiday season. 


Gift Card Scams

In 2024, a National Retail Foundation survey found that shoppers planned to spend $28.6 billion on gift cards during the holidays, with the average shopper spending $170 on them, making gift cards the second most popular holiday gift.4

Scammers want in on that boon. In addition to the in-store gift card scam described above, which is called gift card draining, fraudsters use gift cards for scams in other ways.5

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns of a common gift card scam that is also an imposter scam:6 A criminal calls, texts, or emails a potential victim pretending to be from the government, a company's tech support, a utility, or even a family member, with a plea for money to pay a bill or urgently help them in some way. But, strangely, they ask for payment in the form of a gift card. Once the victim gives them the gift card numbers, they disappear.

Tips to avoid both types of gift card scam include: 

  • Never believe anyone who asks you to pay a bill or do them a financial favor in the form of a gift card. This is a sure sign of a scam.6
  • Before purchasing a gift card, examine the packaging carefully for signs of tampering.5
  • If possible, buy a gift card from behind the counter, where scammers can't reach them.
  • Choose digital gift cards when possible. 
  • When you receive a gift card: Save receipts and gift receipts, monitor your balance and use it soon after receiving it

Charity Scams

Charity scams can be the most heartbreaking fraud, considering the victims are both those donating and the non-profits — not to mention the people in need who are indirectly harmed. Charity scams can include: 

People can take the following steps to avoid a charity scam:7 

  • Before donating or interacting with any charity, search for it online with words like “complaint,” “review,” or “scam.” 
  • Look up the non-profit's ratings and reviews on BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, CharityWatch and Candid.
  • Examine the charity name to be sure it matches a real, trusted organization, letter-for-letter. 
  • Never feel rushed into a donation or even receiving charity. 
  • Make donations by credit card when possible. Requests for donations by cash, gift card, cryptocurrency, or money transfer service can be signs of fraud. 

Travel Scams

If travel is part of your holiday plans, be on the lookout for travel-related fraud. Scammers take advantage of tourists' inherent lack of knowledge about a new place or process in the following ways: 

Vacation Rental Listing Scams: Bad actors post fake vacation rental listings on online booking platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo.10 The scammer offers interested travelers a discount to pay outside of the booking platform to avoid fraud protections. The victim sends the money, and the scammer disappears. 

Toll Road Collection Texts: Scammers text potential victims, demanding payment for a supposedly overdue road toll fee via a link, which leads to a malicious website.11 The site collects the user's personal information and credit card data. Recent travelers may be fooled, thinking they misunderstood a toll system during their travels. 

International Driver's Permit Scam: Some travelers may need an international driver's permit (IDP). Scammers create fake websites and false information to sell them a fraudulent permit, stealing victims' money and exposing them to inadvertently breaking the law in another country.12

Learn how to avoid these scams in How To Avoid 3 Common Travel Scams


Seasonal Employment Scams

Some people seek work — or extra work — during the holiday season to make extra money. It's usually a good strategy because employees often need extra help during the holidays due to higher demand and more regular employees taking time off.

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The holiday season accounted for 25% of all FBI complaints of non-payment/non-delivery scams and close to 30% of related losses for the entire year.

But the surge in job hunters give scammers more opportunity to strike. Employment scams widely vary, but some of the common types that can appear during the holidays include:

Fake Job Listings: Scammers post job listings disguised as real businesses.13 They lead victims through a fake hiring process to collect the victim's personal information, like their Social Security number, driver's license number and bank account info.

Work-from-Home Scams: A scammer "employs" victims to do odd jobs from home for a surprising amount of money.14 Though the tasks are real, the paycheck doesn't arrive and the "employer" disappears. The tasks are sometimes related to another fraud. 

Advance Payment Scams: After interviewing and "hiring" a victim, a scammer sends them a check, either as a prepaid first paycheck or to buy job supplies.15 However, they then claim there's an emergency and ask the victim to send back all or some of the funds. The victim pays, the original check bounces and then the scammer disappears.

Pay-for-Access Job Scams: A fake potential employer or job placement service requires payment for access to job listings, training, or certifications.14 This is frequently seen in job postings for mystery shoppers, government or postal jobs, or job placement services. 

Cryptocurrency or Task Scams: Cryptocurrency job scams, or task scams, make a game out of doing tasks in exchange for a commission after the victim pays a cryptocurrency deposit.16 The game escalates until the scammer asks for a very large deposit, which they keep before disappearing.

Learn how to avoid job scams in "Job Offer or Fraud? How Skyrocketing Employment Scams Target Job Seekers."


Package Delivery Scams

American households receive an average of 165 packages per year, and never more frequently than during the holidays.17 Here's how scammers take advantage:

Package Delivery Text Message Scam: A would-be victim receives a text message claiming to be from USPS, UPS, FedEx, or another package carrier.18 The text usually states that the carrier has a package for them, but there is a delivery issue that can be resolved using a link. The link may victims to a page requesting credit card information or personal info — or may simply download malicious software onto the victim's device. 

Package Brushing: A victim receives a package they didn't order. That's it — or so it seems. The crime is hidden, but brushing scammers send strangers packages after breaking into their online marketplace account so they can post a verified review for the item — which they are associated with in some way.19 Though a good review is the goal, the fraud exposes the victim to identity theft. 

Learn how to avoid package delivery scams in "How to Spot Two Types of Package Delivery Scams."


Online Shopping Scams

Naturally, the holidays are prime shopping season — and scammers find countless ways to intervene. Online shopping scams vary so widely that it's hard to list them all in one place.20 Common ones include:

  • Fake online retailers
  • Fraudulent online auctions
  • Handmade gift scams
  • Electronic skimming (stealing credit card info online)
  • Social media shopping scams

Learn how to avoid these online shopping scams in "Shopping Scams: How to Know When a Great Deal is a Very Bad Deal."

Ideally, the holiday season is full of joy — but it can be stressful if disrupted by a holiday season scam. The Better Business Bureau also recently released its top scams for 2025. If you believe you've been a victim of fraud this holiday season, report the incident to the FTC and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, and follow the steps in our article, "What to Do if You Are a Victim of Fraud." 21 22

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Important disclosure information

Asset allocation and diversifications do not ensure against loss. This content is general in nature and does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment advice. You are encouraged to consult with competent legal, tax, accounting, financial or investment professionals based on your specific circumstances. We do not make any warranties as to accuracy or completeness of this information, do not endorse any third-party companies, products, or services described here, and take no liability for your use of this information.

  1. Darsha Philips, "Gift card scams on the rise as the holiday season approaches," NBC 4 Los Angeles, published November 20, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  2. Amanda Warford Videll, "’Tis the Season for Holiday Scams," FBI Jacksonville, December 2, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  3. "FBI 2023 Internet Crime Complaint Center Report," FBI, published May 2025. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  4. National Retail Federation, "NRF Survey Reveals Top Toys and Gifts for the Winter Holidays," published November 21, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  5. National Cybersecurity Alliance, "Avoid Gift Card Draining Scams This Holiday Season," Online Safety and Privacy Articles, published Dec 4, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  6. Federal Trade Commission, "Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams," FTC Consumer Advice. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  7. Cristina Miranda, "Make your donation count by avoiding end-of-year charity scams," FTC Consumer Advice. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  8. AARP, "Keep Your Holiday Scam-Free," accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  9. Karina Hollingsworth, "Mother of five duped by cruel scam at back-to-school shoe giveaway," KTXS 12 ABC, published August 2, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  10. Nina Pineda, "Family scammed out of $7K by fake listing on popular vacation rental site," Eyewitness News ABC 7, published August 7, 2021. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  11. FBI Public Service Announcement, "Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services," published April 12, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  12. KNOE Staff, "Scam alert with BBB’s Jo Ann Deal: How to not get detained in a foreign country due to a fake IDP," KNOE News 8, published July 1, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  13. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "FBI Warns Cyber Criminals Are Using Fake Job Listings to Target Applicants’ Personally Identifiable Information," FBI EL Paso Press Releases, published April 21, 2021. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  14. Federal Trade Commission, "Job Scams," FTC Consumer Advice, published March 2023. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  15. Federal Trade Commission, "Nanny and Caregiver Job Scams," FTC Consumer Advice, published December 2022. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  16. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Cryptocurrency Job Scams," FBI National Crimes and Victims Resources. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  17. Pitney Bowes, "Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index," accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  18. Susan Young, "How a Husband Hacked the Scammers Who Targeted His Wife, Then Gave Investigators the Info He Learned," People Magazine, published November 18, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  19. Sarah Schreiber, "USPS Warns of Engagement Ring 'Brushing' Scam Amid Cyber Monday Shopping," Brides, published December 2, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
  20. Better Business Bureau, "Online shopping scams," BBB.org. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back
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  22. FBI, "File a Complaint," Internet Crime Complaint Center, accessed August 11, 2025. Accessed November 5, 2025. Back