The holiday season is by far the busiest online shopping time of the year. Unfortunately, that also means it’s when scammers and cybercriminals look to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. This year, it’s only gotten worse as shoppers face a new threat.
While the holiday season has long been a time when scammers and cybercriminals have looked to target consumers, that trend has only gotten worse this year, with the volume and sophistication of those scams greatly increasing thanks to AI.
Holiday Dangers
While scammers and cybercriminals are always looking for victims, these scams and attacks really ramp up during the holiday season.
“Black Friday is no longer just a shopping day,” the research team behind the online security tool Guardio warns. “It has become a hunting ground for cybercriminals armed with artificial intelligence.”
The chaos of the holiday season makes shoppers even more vulnerable to these types of attacks, even prompting Amazon to issue an alert to its shoppers.
“The psychology behind holiday scams is simple,” Guardio says. “Distraction plus urgency equals vulnerability. Cyber criminals exploit this decision fatigue. They’re not just sending random attacks; they’re timing their scams to coincide with the exact moments when you’re most likely to click without thinking.”
According to research conducted by Guardio, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for scammers, with Americans losing over $432 million to online shopping fraud in 2024. Guardio expects that 2025 will “shatter” that record thanks to AI-powered attacks.
AI Adds a New Threat
While these sorts of scams around the holiday season are nothing new, Guardio warns that AI has made these scams both more sophisticated and more prevalent.
In the past, these scams were relatively easy to identify due to poor grammar, spelling errors, and improper formatting.
“Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the scams that worked on your tech-savvy friend last year weren’t better—they were powered by artificial intelligence. Research shows that 76% of phishing sites now use AI-generated content, which means perfect grammar, professional designs, and convincing copy that makes traditional ‘red flags’ obsolete,” Guardio warns. “The old advice to ‘look for spelling errors’ or “check for poor formatting”? That’s ancient history. AI has eliminated those telltale signs, creating scams that fool even the most careful shoppers.”
With the help of AI, the scale of these holiday scams has amplified radically, as well.
“At Guardio, where we track millions of threats in real-time, we’re witnessing a nearly 30x increase in shopping-related SMS scams over the past few months, with November hitting peak levels,” Guardio warns. “Moreover, the number of unique email domains pushing Black Friday messages has exploded by over 500% in just weeks. Scammers aren’t working harder; they’re working smarter, using the same AI tools that power legitimate businesses to create attacks that fool even security-conscious shoppers. The playbook has changed, and so must your defenses.”
How to Keep Yourself Safe
Guardio put together an extensive list of ways to keep yourself safe when you shop this holiday season.
- Gift cards from trusted sources: Purchase gift cards only from the official websites of reputable retailers or in person at their physical stores. Avoid third-party websites, even if they promise discounts.
- Read reviews—but be skeptical: Before making any online purchases, take the time to research the website or company. However, be aware that roughly 5% of reviews on major platforms are now AI-generated fakes designed to boost scam products. Look for specific details in reviews (real customers mention actual features), check review dates (masses of 5-star reviews posted on the same day is suspicious), and search Reddit or forums for authentic discussions about the brand. If reviews sound like marketing copy or use phrases like “game changer” and “I was skeptical but…” repeatedly, they might be AI-generated.
- Protect your payment information: Don’t enter your credit card details on unfamiliar websites. Stick to shopping on websites you know and trust, and use payment methods with fraud protection like credit cards or PayPal. Never use wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or gift cards as payment methods—these are red flags for scams.
- Be wary of extensions: Malicious browser extensions can pose a significant risk to your online security.
- Beware of unwanted notifications: Annoying notifications and popups can be more than just a nuisance; they can be a sign of malware. Be wary of any popups that simply won’t go away, even after you close them—because that’s a definite sign that something’s up.
- Use caution with emails AND text messages: Never click on links in unsolicited emails or texts—period. Your text inbox is now as dangerous as your email. In October 2025 alone, scammers have been aggressively impersonating AT&T, Amazon, Apple/App Store, Lowe’s, Verizon, Costco, Walmart, and Kroger. If you receive a text or email about a delivery issue, account problem, or payment alert, close the message and open the company’s official app or website directly by typing the URL yourself. Real companies will show legitimate alerts in your account dashboard—if there’s no alert there, the message was fake.
What is Guardio?
For those who want extra protection this holiday season and beyond, security tools like Guardio are another option.
Guardio is a secure browser extension and mobile app that helps ensure your online safety on all of your devices.
“Not only does it block hazardous websites, but it also provides instant alerts in case you inadvertently stumble upon a holiday-related scam while navigating the web,” Guardio writes. “With AI making scams virtually undetectable by eye, Guardio’s advanced detection technology works behind the scenes to identify threats before you click.”
Above all, make sure to pay special attention this holiday season, because scammers are more prevalent and more sophisticated than ever.
