“It's beginning to look a lot like Fraud-mas
Ev'rywhere you go
Take a look at the top scams- all ten!
To protect your members again
From an identity theft or a phishing attack blow”
Will the Allied version of this holiday jingle become popularized? It’s not as catchy as an AI-generated phishing attack, but it does highlight that even the bad guys are in the holiday spirit—stealing personal data, money, or both.
The Naughty List of Fraud: Top 10 Scams This Holiday Season
In no particular order, here are ten of the most prevalent scams to be aware of this holiday season.
Payment App Fraud – Fraud involving Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, Cash App, and other P2P payment platforms has surpassed $1 billion in losses.
Gift Card Requests – Fraudsters pose as employers, typically targeting business email addresses, to request gift cards.
Chip Failure – A chip malfunction results in magnetic stripe fallback, which is less secure and more costly for the financial institution (FI).
Empty Gift Cards – Shoppers purchase gift cards in-store, but the cards are emptied by bad actors before they can be used.
Fake or Non-Delivery Notifications – Alerts claim a package cannot be delivered without the recipient verifying personal information.
Non-Delivery Scams – Buyers pay for goods that are never delivered, resulting in nearly $350 million in losses.
QR Code Scams – Fraudulent QR codes promote deals or holiday specials, leading users to websites that request personal information.
Charity Scams – Exploiting the holiday spirit of generosity, fraudsters create fake charities to solicit donations.
USPS Blue Box Theft – Bad actors disguise themselves as mail carriers to steal envelopes containing cash, checks, or personal information from remote mailboxes.
AI-Generated Phishing Messages – AI enables fraudsters to craft phishing messages without the improper tone and grammatical errors that were once hallmarks of social engineering.
Phishing is predicted to be the top fraud exposure this holiday season, but all these types of fraud attempts ramp up during this purchase-heavy time of year and will continue even after the holidays. Fraudsters are willing to play the long game, waiting to use stolen data or funds well beyond the season. Depending on the sophistication of the fraud and how the transaction is routed, funds lost to these scams may not be traceable or refundable.
The Nice List: Keep Identity, Money, and Data Nice and Secure
As fraudsters become more clever, it’s imperative to be extra vigilant. Keep your accountholders, friends, family, employees, and yourself protected with these practical steps:
Unexpected contact: A basic rule of thumb is this: If you weren’t expecting it, don’t respond to it. Don’t click on or open attachments from unknown email senders. Do not provide personal information via text message. Communicate with your accountholders about when they can expect you to reach out for verification codes, and remind them that you will never ask for personal information.
Unusual transactions: With increased spending and transactions, small, out-of-the-ordinary charges can slip by unnoticed. Transactions under $50 entered without a PIN should raise suspicion. Perform additional authentication for wire requests and loan approvals. Require authentication for account access across all channels—online, over the phone, and in-branch. Restrict payment apps (Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, Zelle, etc.) for friends-and-family use only.
Urgency: Requests with a tone of urgency can cause victims to respond impulsively, overriding logic and providing sensitive information to the wrong individuals. Always pause before sharing personal or business information, especially when the requester’s tone seems urgent.
Ultimately, be ultra-cautious: Fraud and scams are year-round threats, but they become more prevalent during the holidays. Take precautions such as taking mail directly to the post office and signing up for Informed Delivery. Ensure your financial institution uses color remote deposit capture to better detect check washing. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for online banking. Encourage accountholders to set up transaction alerts and to use credit cards (instead of debit cards) for online transactions.
Stay Protected During the Holidays—and All Year Long
While it’s on our wish list, fraud isn’t going away this holiday season. Make sure your institution can monitor for fraud even while your employees enjoy the holidays. Get real-time, 24/7/365 transaction monitoring from Allied Solutions to stay protected all year long.