Tis the season for giving, but fraudsters are always focused on taking. This holiday season watch out for scam phone calls, texts, and emails impersonating charities, delivery companies—even government agencies—all designed to steal your money or valuable personal information.
Delivery Scams With A New Wrinkle
Holiday shopping season kicked into full gear with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Now we wait for delivery of our orders. Will they make it on time?
New de minimus tariff rules went into effect in August 2025 on imported goods priced under $800. But it’s unclear to most consumers how much they owe for import duties and when they should be paid—at the time of purchase or during delivery. Capitalizing on consumer confusion about tariffs, fraudsters have adjusted their package delivery text scams to claim that you owe a tariff that must be paid before your order can be delivered.
Watch out for text notices saying your purchase is “stuck in customs” or your order will not be delivered until a tariff is paid.
Tips to Avoid Tariff Scams:
- Don’t reply to unexpected text messages.
- Never click links in unexpected messages.
- Check before you buy. Look for specific information about tariffs and duties on merchant websites before making a purchase. Pay special attention to resale apps and platforms like Etsy and E-Bay.
- Legitimate companies will tell you up front if there are additional fees, or will include them in the purchase price.
- Look closely at tracking numbers and other order details included in emails or texts to ensure they match the information the merchant provided.
- Check directly with the retailer where you made the purchase or the shipping company if you think there may be a problem.
USPS says to forward any suspicious emails to [email protected] and forward texts messages to 7726.
FedEx and UPS websites have information about scam texts and other types of seasonal fraud.
Learn more about how to avoid package delivery scams.
Holiday Charity Scams
Making charitable donations on Giving Tuesday – the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving – has become a modern holiday tradition. As you make donations this year, watch out for calls and texts soliciting support. It may be a scammer impersonating a real charity or collecting money for a fake charity from unsuspecting donors.
A few ways to avoid holiday charity scams include:
- Do your research to make sure you are donating to trusted charities.
- Verify all phone numbers for charities. If you need to contact a charity by phone or using text-to-donate, check the charity’s official website to see if the number you have is legitimate.
- Double-check any social media requests for charitable donations before you give. Crowd-funding websites often host individual requests for help, but they are not always vetted.
Learn more about charity scams and how to protect yourself: Scam ‘Charities’ Will Take Your Money and Run.
How to Identify and Sidestep Holiday Scams
Here are some red flags and tips to help you avoid being scammed during the holidays (and year-round):
- Pressure to act quickly is a red flag. Hang up if pressured for immediate payment or personal information.
- Any caller that insists on gift cards, store credit cards or crypto-currency as the only payment options is a scammer.
- Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. Legitimate callers will leave a message and you can call back.
- If a caller claims to represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call back using an official phone number from an account statement or on an official website.
- Never give account numbers, Social Security numbers, financial or social media passwords and PINs, or other personal information to unknown callers.
- Do not open suspicious emails or file attachments, or click email or text links.
Look into the tools that may be available on your phone. Apple and Android devices have tools that can help block or screen calls to weed out scammers.
Caller ID Spoofing
Remember that calls can be spoofed to look as if someone is calling from the same area code, or that a charity, company, or government agency you are familiar with is calling.
If you pick up a call you weren’t expecting, hang up. Always play it safe if unknown callers ask for donations or request personal information to “update records.” Remember, the longer you stay on the line with a scammer, the more likely you are to lose money.
Written by the FTC.