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      Wealth Management Insights

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      Wealth Management Insights October 30, 2025

      Holiday Scams: How to Stay Protected During the Holiday Season

      The holiday season is a busy time of year, meant to be filled with family, gifting, and celebrating. However, amidst all the fun holiday events lurks a large threat, holiday scams. Unfortunately, this time of year is the most common time for bad actors to try to steal money, data, and sensitive information to gain access to your accounts. Nobody wants to deal with a scam around the holidays, so it’s important to educate yourself on potential threats and ensure that you and your families are protected.

      What are Holiday Scams?

      Holiday scams are yearly threats that attack holiday shoppers and sellers typically during the months of November, December, and January. These scams can come in the form of email, text message, phone call/voicemail, or even through a note left at your doorstep.

      The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that non-payment and non-delivery schemes cost victims around $282 million a year and increasing. According to the FBI’s 2023 Internet Crime Report, there were a total of 51,679 holiday scams reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). With the growing impact of AI and current cyber trends, we expect to see a higher rate of successful holiday scams in 2024 than ever before.

      Types of Holiday Scams:

      There are six specific holiday scams to be aware of this holiday season:

      Package Delivery Scams Receiving a text message or email about a package that will be delivered to your address that includes a tracking link, urging you to update your delivery/payment preferences and track the package. 
      Missed Package Scams When a bad actor leaves a fake note at your door claiming you were not home to obtain a package. It may say you must go online and enter sensitive information to get the package back.
      Gift Card Scams A bad actor will request a gift card via phone call, email, text, etc. and instruct you to read the numbers to them. They might prefer to be a charity or family member. 
      Social Media Scams Any holiday promotions, social media contests, vouchers, coupons, or gift cards that you could earn for completing a social media survey could try to take sensitive information or have malicious intentions. 
      Non-Delivery & Non-Payment Scams Non-Delivery scam: A consumer will purchase a specific product or service online but never receive what they paid for. Non-Payment scam: A seller will have a confirmed order and ship out their goods but never receive a payment in return. 
      Email Scams Bad actors will frequently use email scams to trick you into visiting malicious websites. These websites may look similar to their legitimate counterparts, so it's important to be cautious when visiting websites using links provided in emails. 

      Tips for Protecting Yourself During the Holiday Season:

      When shopping for or selling products online this holiday season, keep these four tips in mind to prevent potential scams.

      Look for red flags to identity scams.

      • Never click a link or open an attachment from any unknown sources.
      • If a deal appears too good to be true, it probably is.
      • Be wary of urgent offers/requests.

      Only visit trusted websites.

      • Only visit websites with https and a lock symbol in the URL.
      •  Avoid visiting websites through targeted or sponsored ads, instead search for the brand or site directly.
      • Duplicate websites are created to mimic well-known companies, thoroughly review the website before making any purchases, paying extra attention to websites with words like “discount” or “Black Friday” in the URL
      • If you’re unsure if an interaction is legitimate, contact the company directly.

      Donate to reputable charities or organizations that you trust.

      • Do thorough research before completing any donations.
      • Be suspicious of newly formed charities.

       Protect your accounts.

      • If possible, make purchases with credit cards or use third-party payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal.
      • Add purchase alerts to your accounts to monitor for unauthorized transactions.
      • Enable transaction limits, restrict international purchases, or require verification for online transactions.
      • Avoid using public Wi-Fi without a VPN or a mobile hotspot.
      • Enable multi-factor authentication to add an additional layer of protection to your accounts.

      What to Do if You Are a Victim of Holiday Scams

      If you or someone you know has fallen victim to a holiday scam, ensure that all communication with the scammer is halted. If the scammer obtained any sensitive information such as your Social Security number, contact the credit bureaus, and the Social Security Administration. If they have compromised any banking information, contact the financial institution as soon as possible so that they can assist with the situation.

      If you are a victim of fraud, please contact Old National Wealth Advisors.

      If you would like to report a case of a holiday scam to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, please use this link: https://www.ic3.gov/.  

       

       

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