How to Avoid Online Shopping Scams this Holiday Season

12 December 2025

“If someone pressures you to act immediately, it is probably a scam.” Federal Trade Commission official consumer guidance.

The rise of phishing and social engineering and online scams during holiday seasons

Every year the holidays seem to arrive sooner than expected. Many of us try to save time by avoiding crowded shops by buying gifts online. It feels faster, easier, and often cheaper. But while you are browsing for presents, scammers are also busy. They spend all year looking for new ways to trick people, and the holiday season is one of their favourite times because shoppers are rushed, distracted, and eager to find bargains.

Online fraud is not limited to fake shopping websites. Scammers use phishing emails, social engineering tactics, and convincing messages on social media to pressure people into handing over money or personal information. This guide explains how these scams work, why they fool so many people, the thinking traps involved, and what you can do to stay safe this holiday season.

A growing number of scams begin on social media and email. Fraudsters create adverts or send messages that look like they are from real shops or delivery companies. They may claim a parcel cannot be delivered, that your payment has failed, or that a special sale is ending soon. These are classic phishing tactics. They are designed to make you click a link that sends you to a fake website. This site may ask you to enter your bank details, log in to your account, or make a quick payment to fix the issue. The latest trend is to impersonate law enforcement and prompt you into action or risk being arrested.

Other scammers use social engineering. They rely on psychological tricks to influence your behaviour. They might pretend to be customer support agents, online sellers, or even official staff from well-known brands or even the government. They use friendly conversation, urgent warnings or emotional messages to gain your trust. Once you trust them, they can persuade you to share information or make a purchase.

If you place an order on a scam website, or respond to a fake message, you may receive a poor-quality counterfeit item, something completely different, or nothing at all. Many victims only realise they have been targeted when the item does not arrive or when money vanishes from their account.

Why scams are convincing

To understand why phishing, social engineering and online shopping scams work, it helps to look at the biases and heuristics that affect everyday decision making.

Note:

Bias is a tendency to think or judge in a certain way online that is not fully objective, often influenced by emotions, habits, or digital environments.

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that help people make quick decisions without analysing every detail. They save time and effort, but can also lead to mistakes, especially online where scammers use these shortcuts against us.

The scarcity effect

People often assume that if something seems rare, it must be valuable and worth buying quickly. Scammers use phrases like “Only three left” or “Offer ends tonight” to make victims rush, and this urgency stops people thinking clearly. Phishing emails often add time pressure too, saying your account will be closed, or that you will lose your benefits, “unless you act now”.

The authority bias

When a message or website uses official looking branding or a familiar logo, people often assume it is genuine. Scammers copy well known shops, delivery companies, and payment services to appear trustworthy. Many phishing emails use the same colours, fonts, and layout as real organisations, which tricks the brain into trusting the source.

The halo effect

If part of a message or website looks high quality, people often assume the whole thing is reliable. Polished adverts, friendly customer service messages and professional product photos all make fake shops look real, and this effect also applies to phishing emails that imitate real invoice templates or service notifications.

Confirmation bias

When someone wants a bargain, they may ignore warning signs. If a price seems unusually low, they may search only for reasons to believe it, the same happens with emails that claim “a parcel is waiting” for you, people sometimes look for proof it is genuine rather than checking for signs of fraud.

The social proof heuristic

Scammers use fake reviews, false ratings, and copied customer photos to create the illusion that many people trust their site. Phishing messages sometimes include copied customer service signatures or fake employee names. In both cases, the brain tends to assume that if many others appear satisfied, the service must be genuine.

How to protect yourself from online scams, phishing, and social engineering

Although scams are increasingly sophisticated, there are practical steps that anyone can take to reduce the risk of becoming a victim.

1. Research the seller

Before buying anything, search the seller’s name and website address along with words like review, complaint or scam. This often reveals warnings from others that have fallen for the scams. Check for a real business address, a working phone number and clear information about returns.

For emails and messages, look closely at the sender address. Scammers often use slight variations of real company names or “Typo squatting” where the letters like “r” and “n” or “rn” are combined to look like an “m”. Never click a link from a message that you did not expect, instead, improve your cyber hygiene by visiting the official website by typing the address into your browser.

2. Payments and methods

Credit cards offer the strongest protection if something goes wrong. You can dispute a charge if the seller is fake, if the item never arrives, or if you receive something completely different. Scammers often push for bank transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency or payment apps because these methods are difficult to trace or reverse, remember, a demand for these payment types is a strong warning sign.

3. Keep your records

Save your receipts, confirmations and any emails related to the purchase as these help if you need to request a refund. Record the date an item was promised to arrive, as an example, in the UK and much of Europe, sellers must deliver goods within the timeframe they advertise or offer a refund if they cannot.

For phishing attempts, keep a screenshot or forward the suspicious message to the official reporting address of the relevant company or to the government phishing reporting service.

P.s – If you do use public platforms to post complaints, remember that scammers can respond directly to your post pretending to be officials from that company, and then attempt to scam you. Rather contact the company directly for complaints.

4. Beware of deals that seem unbelievable

If a price looks far lower than normal, pause and reconsider, scammers rely on the excitement of finding a bargain and the scarcity bias. These types of sales do exist, but extreme discounts are rare. The same applies to emails claiming free gifts, prize draws, or exclusive rewards in exchange for clicking a link, if it looks unrealistic, it probably is.

5. Use trusted websites

Where possible, buy from official shops or recognised retailers, especially when using online marketplaces, rather choose sellers with long histories and consistent positive reviews. For emails and text messages, always start from the official website rather than a link in a message.

6. Look for secure connections and a valid URL

Check that the web address begins with https and shows a padlock symbol as this means the connection is encrypted. Ensure the URL is legitimate and not changed to imitate a real website such as amaz0n.com (Number “0” substituted for letter “o”)

Note: It does not guarantee safety, but it is one useful step in your checks.

Why scams work so well during the holidays

The holiday season brings emotional pressure, financial pressure and time pressure. These conditions make people more likely to fall for cognitive shortcuts.

Scarcity bias grows stronger when you are worried about finding the perfect gift in time.
Confirmation bias becomes more tempting when you feel stressed.
Social engineering works better when you are distracted or in a hurry.

Recognising these pressures helps you stay cautious and in control, and by understanding the biases that affect judgement and by following practical safety steps, you can enjoy the holiday season with greater confidence.

At Cyber Dexterity we see peace of mind as a true holiday gift, and we hope these insights help you and your loved ones stay informed and protected.

Wishing you a secure, safe and joyful holiday season.

Basil Polydorou – Head of Learning Solutions

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