Holiday Scams to Watch For (and What to Do If You Paid a Scammer)

The holidays are when you expect packages, shop with strangers online, get asked for donations and move money around more than usual. Scammers plan for all of it. A fake delivery text or a too-good-to-be-true ad looks a lot more believable in December.

Here are the scams the FTC and FBI see most this time of year, the tells that give each one away, and what to do in the first hour if you’ve already paid.

Why it matters this year

In 2025, people filed 3 million fraud reports with the FTC and reported $15.9 billion in losses, up from just over $12 billion the year before.² The FTC says those numbers are only a fraction of real losses, since many people never report.² The FBI’s 2025 report counted 1,008,597 internet crime complaints and $20.877 billion in losses, and $503 million of that was people who paid for goods or services that never came.⁸

How someone asks you to pay is one of the best tells. People reported the biggest losses, more than $4 billion in total, in scams where they paid by bank transfer or cryptocurrency.⁷

The holiday scams to know

1. Fake package delivery texts

Package delivery messages, usually pretending to be from the U.S. Postal Service, were the most reported text scam in 2024. They say there’s a problem with a delivery and link to a site that looks like the real one. Many people paid a small “redelivery fee” that was really a way to get their card number or even their Social Security number.⁹

The giveaway: USPS won’t text or email you unless you first requested tracking with a tracking number, and its messages won’t contain a link.¹⁰ The FTC’s advice for any unexpected delivery message is to skip the link and check the order on the site where you bought it.¹¹

2. Fake online stores and social media ads

Scammers run ads for brand-name products at unusually low prices, sometimes pretending to be real companies. The link can lead to a site that sends a fake, something that looks nothing like the picture, or nothing at all.¹² In 2025, shopping scams were the most reported scam on social media, and most people said they paid for things that simply never arrived.³

• Search the seller’s name and web address with words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam” before you buy.¹²
• Don’t trust the padlock alone. The “s” in https means the site is encrypted, not that it’s real.¹³
• Pay by credit card when you can, so you can dispute the charge if the item never comes.¹²
• Walk away if the seller only takes gift cards, wire transfers, payment apps or cryptocurrency.¹³

Sellers also have to ship when they say they will. If they don’t give a time, an FTC rule says they have to ship within 30 days of getting your order and payment.¹³

3. Anyone asking for gift cards

The FTC is blunt: “Gift cards are for gifts. Only gifts. Not for payments.” No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. Once a scammer has the number and PIN from the back of the card, they can take the money even though you still have the card.⁴ In 2024, people reported losing $212 million paid by gift card or reload card.¹⁴

4. Fake fraud alerts from your “bank”

A text asks you to reply YES or NO about a big purchase you didn’t make. When you reply, a fake fraud department calls to help, then pressures you to move money to keep it safe. It goes straight to the scammer.⁹ Some of the costliest impersonation scams start this way.¹

5. Fake charities

At year’s end you’ll get calls, texts and emails asking for donations.¹⁶ Some scammers use names that sound like real charities. Before you give:

• Check that the charity is registered with your state charity regulator. Most states require it, and you can find yours at nasconet.org.¹⁷¹⁶
• Look the group up in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool if you want a tax deduction.¹⁷
• Give by credit card or check. A charity that only takes cryptocurrency, a payment app, gift cards or wired money is likely a scam.¹⁷
• Don’t let anyone rush you, and don’t trust caller ID.¹⁷

If you’re the one who needs help this season, our guide to free holiday help lists the real programs and how to reach them directly.

6. Puppy and pet ads

The FTC warns that scammers post holiday ads for pets, especially puppies, sometimes offering purebreds for a few hundred dollars when they often cost thousands, and push you to act fast. Only scammers insist on gift cards, payment apps, cryptocurrency or wire transfers.¹⁸ A local rescue or shelter is a safer place to start.¹⁸

7. Holiday travel and rental deals

Vacation rentals priced far below similar places, pressure to book fast, and a demand to pay by wire, gift card, payment app or cryptocurrency are all signs of a travel scam.¹⁹

What to do if you already paid a scammer

Move fast. Your money might already be gone, but the FTC says it’s always worth asking the company you used to send it whether it can be stopped or reversed.²⁰⁷

How you paid	Who to contact right away	What to ask
Credit card	The card issuer (number on the back of the card)	Refund the charge. Federal law protects you from unauthorized use
Debit card	Your bank or credit union	Refund the money. Federal law also covers unauthorized debit use
Bank transfer or bank transfer app	Your bank or credit union	Reverse the payment and refund it
Payment app	The payment app	Reverse the payment and refund it
Wire transfer company	The wire transfer company	Tell them a scammer tricked you, ask for a refund
Gift card	The gift card company (number on the back)	Refund the money. Keep the card and receipt
Cryptocurrency	The exchange or crypto ATM operator	Reverse the transaction. Then report it
Cash by U.S. mail	U.S. Postal Inspection Service, 1-877-876-2455	Intercept the package (for a fee) if it hasn’t been delivered

Source for the table: the FTC’s “What To Do if You Were Scammed” guide.²⁰ Cryptocurrency payments don’t carry the legal protections credit and debit cards do, so they’re hard to get back.²⁰

If you paid by credit card for something that never came

The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you a dispute process for things you were billed for but never got.²¹ Call the card company right away, then send a written dispute within 60 days of the statement that first showed the charge.²²²¹ The issuer has to acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve it within 90, and you can hold off paying the disputed amount while it investigates.²¹ You can dispute it even if you already paid the bill.²² Our glossary explains chargebacks in more detail.

If you clicked a link or shared information

1. Tell your bank

   If you entered anything on a fake delivery site, even without hitting submit, the Postal Inspection Service says to notify your bank or card company.¹⁰

2. Change the password

   If you gave a scammer an account login, create a new strong password and turn on two-factor authentication.²⁰

3. Protect your identity

   If a scammer used your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan.²⁰ Our credit and debt basics page explains fraud alerts and credit freezes.

Where to report it

• ReportFraud.ftc.gov for any scam. The FTC uses reports to build cases and spot trends.²⁰
• IdentityTheft.gov if someone used your personal information.²⁰
• ic3.gov, the FBI’s internet crime site. Note the scammer’s name, how they contacted you, dates, how you paid and where the money went.²³
• 7726 (SPAM): forward scam texts so your carrier can block similar ones.²⁴
• spam@uspis.gov for fake USPS texts, with a screenshot showing the sender’s number and date.¹⁰
• Your state charity regulator for fake charities, found at nasconet.org.¹⁷

Shopping with a set budget makes it easier to notice when something’s off. Our Black Friday budget rules help you decide what you’re buying, and where, before the deals start.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Federal Trade Commission, FTC Data Show People Reported Losing $3.5 Billion to Imposter Scams in 2025 (June 15, 2026).
2. Federal Trade Commission, Prepared statement before the Joint Economic Committee, “The Rising Scam Economy” (March 25, 2026).
3. Federal Trade Commission, Reported losses to scams on social media eight times higher than in 2020 (April 27, 2026).
4. Federal Trade Commission, Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams.
5. Federal Trade Commission, Got a call about fraud activity on your bank account? It could be a scammer (2024).
6. Federal Trade Commission, Do you use payment apps? Read this (August 14, 2023).
7. Federal Trade Commission, A way to spot scams: how someone asks you to pay (July 22, 2026).
8. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report.
9. Federal Trade Commission, Top text scams of 2024 (April 14, 2025).
10. U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Smishing: Package Tracking Text Scams.
11. Federal Trade Commission, Scammers are delivering phishing messages this holiday season (December 2, 2024).
12. Federal Trade Commission, How to avoid an online shopping scam this holiday season (November 25, 2025).
13. Federal Trade Commission, Online Shopping.
14. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024.
15. Federal Trade Commission, How to handle unexpected calls that claim your money is at risk (January 30, 2026).
16. Federal Trade Commission, Donate to charities (not scammers) on Giving Tuesday (December 1, 2025).
17. Federal Trade Commission, Before Giving to a Charity.
18. Federal Trade Commission, Getting a pet? Avoid scams (December 16, 2024).
19. Federal Trade Commission, Avoid Scams When You Travel.
20. Federal Trade Commission, What To Do if You Were Scammed (June 2026).
21. Federal Trade Commission, Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges.
22. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How do I dispute a charge on my credit card bill?.
23. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cryptocurrency and AI Scams Bilk Americans of Billions (April 6, 2026).
24. Federal Trade Commission, How to Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages.

Facts checked against the sources above on October 9, 2026.

This is general education, not personal financial or legal advice. Programs, rules and prices change, so check the linked official source before you act.