While holidays in the US are often a time for celebration, where you connect with friends and family, it can also be a time that is met with a lot of disappointment, frustration, and loss of finances as a result of holiday scams. It’s around the holidays that cybercriminals take full advantage of our emotions, bargain-hunting, and excitement.
In this post, we highlight what you need to be aware of over the holidays and we reflect on two of the biggest holiday scams of 2023.
Looking Back At 2023 Holiday Scams
With ever-increasing sophistication, during the 2023 holidays cybercriminals targeted shoppers and travelers across the US in an effort to exploit finances or collect data. There were many of the usual scams that were prevalent, but two scams were particularly common.
The Charity Scam
During 2023, one scam that caught many people off guard was that of charities. Fraudsters would set up fake charities and push for donations, pocketing all the money that was given. It’s something that was particularly prolific last year, and we can expect the same for the remainder of 2024, and into 2025. Two of the primary platforms they pushed the scam on was social media and via email.
It’s important that you always research the charity that you are looking to donate to. If you’re ever unsure, ask them for their credentials or official documentation confirming that they are indeed a charity or NPO.
Payment Scams
Many people were defrauded last year as they made far more online payments than has been the case in prior years. Bank payments and transfers made up the majority of losses of all scams last year, amounting to over $1.8 billion.
What was unique about last year is the fact that cryptocurrency scams skyrocketed, with consumers who chose to adopt the highly volatile currencies as a payment method for their holidays were left out in the cold. For many, the digital coin was a digital disaster.
Holiday Scams To Look Out For In 2024
When it comes to the holidays, it’s vital that consumers are well aware of what they should look out for. As with 2023, we can expect new and innovative strategies to be deployed by cybercriminals over the coming year.
Here’s what you should look out for.
AI-Generated Travel Agencies
We all love to travel over the holidays, but when it comes to planning we have to be cautious. Thanks to the ongoing growth of AI, this is one we can expect to see more of over the remainder of this year and into 2025. With AI taking hold so much more over the past year, we’ll see AI scams make an even bigger presence in the travel space. Expect to see highly convincing, professional travel agency websites that appear legitimate.
How it works: Fraudsters use ever-more accessible AI tools to create polished websites, complete with customer testimonials, fake reviews, and realistic booking platforms. Once you pay for the trip that you have planned for the holidays, the scammer pockets your money and simply shuts down the website. This leaves you with no way to recover your funds.
How to avoid it: Keep a close eye on any travel websites that you are accessing. Does it seem legitimate? Is something off? It’s important that you always book through a well-known and trusted travel website. Look for company testimonials on trusted review sites. As always, if the price is too good to be true, then it probably is.
Fake Black Friday Sales
While the day after Thanksgiving isn’t officially a holiday, it’s one time of the year when cyber criminals are most active. Each year, shoppers flood retailer websites to get the Black Friday deal they’ve been hoping for. Fraudsters tap into the desperation and bargain-hunting that this day is synonymous with. Expect to encounter fake websites that mimic official retailers, where your money goes into a black fraudulent hole.
How it works: Fraudsters create websites that look exactly the same as the official retailer’s site, often using a URL that is very similar. Unless you look carefully and act with caution, you can easily be caught out. They’ll list products as the retailer would, but when you order the items they’ll never be delivered.
How to avoid the scam: First, check the URL of the website carefully. While it may appear to be official, if it’s fake you’ll notice that the website address differs slightly (or in some cases, it will be completely different). Also, take a close look at the website itself. Fake websites are often poorly made with only selected pages being loaded. If something seems amiss, close down the site and rather search for the official site on Google (or access the site via the company’s social media pages).
Flight Ticket Scams
This scam is built around ‘exclusive’ online flight tickets, especially around the holidays. You can expect to see ridiculously low prices. While there are many such deals that are legitimate, you must be wary of getting caught in a scammers trap. If you’re the type of person who leaves flight bookings to the last minute and you see an attractive special, tread with care.
How it works: Specials are announced and you are driven to a fake website. Once you transact through that site, the scammer will either disappear with your money or collect your personal information, leading to identity theft.
How to avoid it: The number one rule here is to be thorough. Make sure that you only book flights directly through the airline’s official website or through a reputable third-party travel agency. Always be cautious of deals that offer extremely low prices for high-demand flights.
Deepfake Customer Support Scams
This one is fairly new, where scammers use deepfake technology to impersonate a real customer service representative from major travel companies or airlines. The scammer will set up either a voice or video call with the objective of stealing your money or data. They will often also use social engineering tactics as part of the scam. The scam goes one level further where scammers are emulating customers’ voices, giving them the ability to change email and home addresses. This opens up a number of fraud opportunities. Take careful note of this over the holidays, especially the Christmas period.
How it works: Using deepfake technology, scammers simply replicate either the voice or appearance, and sometimes both, of genuine customer service agents. They’ll often reach out to you directly to request information, using a cloned voice. When you provide your information, they disappear.
How to avoid it: The best way to counter this fraud is to only contact customer service through an official and verified phone number. If you receive a call and something sounds off, ask them if you can call them back. It’s at this point that they will either try to convince you to stay on the line, or hang up.
Travel Rental Scams
The holiday season is a time when lots of people travel to spend time with friends and family. It’s also a time when scammers deploy several tactics to steal your money. One tactic involves travel rentals, where they take advantage by posting fake properties on various digital platforms. They do so on both legitimate websites and those that are fake, so even if you are browsing a trusted and popular holiday rental website, do so with caution.
How it works: The scammer will place an advert or a listing for a property that does not exist. They will either list these properties on existing rental websites or they will create their own fake website. When you transfer payment into their account, they disappear with your money.
How to avoid it: First and foremost check the website URL. Is it the legitimate website’s URL or have they crafted a similar web address in an effort to fool you? If you are on a trusted website, when you come across a property that you are interested in do your research. Check for online reviews of the property and ideally call the individual and ask them specific questions. Also, most rental websites have a section where people leave reviews of their stay. If there are no reviews, avoid the property at all costs. Finally, don’t ever pay in cryptocurrency.
Staying Vigilant
While the holidays offer a time to relax, to connect with family, or to get a bargain, it’s also a time to be at your most vigilant. It’s during these times when so many of us drop our guard as we focus on spending time with friends and family or getting the item we’ve always wanted for a discount. To stay safe, it’s key that you remember the type of scams we have mentioned above and how to counter them.
If you want to learn about other popular scams of 2024, visit our blog.