In 60 seconds: Black Friday is November 27 and the scammers are already warming up. The holiday traps that catch the most Americans are fake delivery texts, copycat stores, gift-card payment demands, and phony charities — and almost all of them give themselves away in one place: how they ask you to pay.
- No real business or government agency will ever ask you to pay with a gift card, wire transfer, or crypto — that demand alone is the scam.
- Never tap a link in an unexpected delivery text; check tracking only through the carrier's own app or a website you type yourself.
- Online purchase scams were the most reported scam type in the BBB's 2025 Scam Tracker report, with a median loss of $68 — about the size of a holiday gift.
- Pay by credit card when you can: it carries far stronger fraud protection than a debit card, wire, or payment app transfer to a stranger.
- If you already clicked or paid, act fast — call your bank, change any password you entered, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Shopping online with a credit card at home. File photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Honestly, the holidays are a scammer's favorite season for a simple reason: you're busy, you're expecting packages, you're feeling generous, and your guard is down. A text about a "failed delivery" lands exactly when you're waiting on three orders. A charity appeal arrives right when you're in a giving mood. A deal that's 80% off looks plausible when every store is shouting about doorbusters. That's not a coincidence — it's the business model.
Black Friday falls on November 27 this year, with Cyber Monday on November 30, and the traps don't wait for those dates. They start with early promotions and run straight through deliveries, returns, and refund requests into January. Here's the full list, the tell for each one, and the one check that stops most of them cold.
What happened
Holiday scams aren't new, but the volume keeps climbing because the tools keep getting cheaper. Fake storefronts can be spun up in an afternoon. Delivery texts can be blasted to millions of numbers at once. And the payment methods scammers love — gift cards, wires, crypto, payment-app transfers to strangers — are nearly impossible to reverse once the money moves. The Better Business Bureau's 2025 Scam Tracker report found online purchase scams were the single most reported scam type, at 28.4% of everything people logged, and 89.3% of those reports involved someone actually losing money. The median loss was $68.
The good news? You don't need to memorize every scam variant. You need to recognize seven patterns and one rule.
Latest verified facts
| The scam | The tell | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fake delivery text | A text or email says a package is held, the address is incomplete, or a small redelivery fee is due — with a link. | Never tap the link. Open the carrier's app or type its site yourself and paste in the tracking number from the store's own confirmation. |
| 2. Copycat store | A social media ad offers a hot item far below every other price, from a store you have never heard of. | Stick with stores you know. Search the store name plus "scam" or "reviews" before buying, and be suspicious of sites that only take gift cards, wires, or crypto. |
| 3. Payment-method trap | The seller insists on a gift card, wire, Zelle transfer to a stranger, or crypto — no credit card option. | Walk away. Pay by credit card, which offers far more protection than debit, wire, or payment-app transfers. |
| 4. "Boss needs gift cards" | An email or text that looks like your boss asks you to buy gift cards for clients and send photos of the codes. | Call your boss at the number already in your phone. No real boss asks for gift cards by email or text. |
| 5. Fake charity | A charity you have never heard of calls or texts during giving season, pushing for an immediate donation. | Give through the charity's own website, which you find yourself — never through a caller or a text link. |
| 6. Mystery parcel QR code | An unordered "gift" arrives with a card inviting you to scan a QR code to learn who sent it. | Don't scan it. The code leads to a phishing page built to harvest passwords or card details. |
| 7. Account-locked or refund phishing | A message claims your retailer account is locked, a payment failed, or a refund is waiting — click here to fix it. | Go to the retailer or bank yourself, through its app or a typed address. Never use the link in the message. |
Why it matters
Here's the thing: every one of these scams works by borrowing trust. The delivery text borrows the carrier's name. The copycat store borrows a real brand's photos. The charity appeal borrows your generosity. The boss email borrows your workplace hierarchy. Once you see that pattern, the defense gets simple — you stop trusting the message and start trusting the channel you chose yourself.
That matters more this year because the dollar amounts stay small enough to feel harmless. A $68 median loss doesn't sound catastrophic, and that's exactly why it works at scale: thousands of people shrug, don't report it, and the scammer moves on to the next thousand. The Federal Trade Commission's standing guidance is blunt on the core point — no real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. If that sentence is in the message, the message is the scam.
Impact on the USA and the world
This isn't a niche internet problem anymore. Package-delivery scams have become the most commonly reported type of text-message scam, and they spike every November and December because that's when everyone is genuinely waiting on boxes. The same playbook runs worldwide — fake shops, fake couriers, fake charities — but Americans get hit hardest at the holidays because Black Friday and Cyber Monday concentrate so much spending into a few weeks.
There's a practical upside for shoppers, too. Credit cards, unlike debit cards or wires, let you dispute a charge when the goods never arrive. Shipping deadlines matter here as well: knowing the real cutoff dates keeps you from panic-buying from a sketchy store at the last minute. Read our earlier coverage: USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2026: The Dates That Actually Get Your Gift There by Christmas; How to Freeze Your Credit in the US: Free, Fast, and the One Mistake That Leaves You Exposed; Your Credit Report Is Free Every Week — Here's How to Pull It.
What happens next
Expect the traps to shift as December arrives. Early-season scams lean on fake stores and too-good deals; mid-December leans on delivery texts and refund phishing, when inboxes are full of real tracking updates; late December leans on fake charities and "donate before year-end" pressure. The defenses don't change, though — check tracking yourself, pay by credit card, give through a charity's own site, and treat any gift-card payment demand as an instant stop sign.
If you already clicked, paid, or scanned, move fast — the first few hours matter most. Call your bank using the number on the back of your card if you entered card details, change any password you entered, contact the gift card company right away if you bought cards, forward the scam text to 7726 (SPAM), and report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (and to the FBI's ic3.gov for online fraud). Then tell someone: the embarrassment of admitting it is nothing next to the money a warning saves the next person. Our take: the single habit that protects you all season is boring and free — never tap a link you didn't ask for. Everything else is just details.
Frequently asked questions
Is a delivery text a scam if I'm actually expecting a package?
It can still be a scam — that's why it works. Real carriers don't text you a link to pay a redelivery fee. Check tracking through the carrier's own app or a website you type yourself, using the tracking number from the store's order confirmation.
Is it ever legitimate for someone to ask me to pay with a gift card?
No. The FTC says no real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. Never read out, text, or photograph the numbers on the back of a gift card for someone who asked you to buy it.
What should I do if I already bought gift cards for a scammer?
Contact the gift card company immediately using the number on the card or its website, say the cards were used in a scam, and ask whether the funds can be frozen. Keep the cards and receipts, then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Are social media ads for big discounts always fake?
Not always, but treat an unfamiliar store offering a hot item far below every other price as guilty until proven innocent. Search the store name plus "scam" or "reviews," check for a credit-card payment option, and skip any seller that only takes gift cards, wires, or crypto.
Should I scan a QR code on an unexpected package?
No. An unordered parcel with a QR code inviting you to "find out who sent it" is a known phishing setup. Scanning it can lead to a page designed to steal passwords or card details. If you didn't order it, don't scan it.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission consumer guidance and ReportFraud.ftc.gov; U.S. Postal Inspection Service identity-fraud guidance; Better Business Bureau 2025 Scam Tracker Risk Report (as summarized Oct. 2026); FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center guidance on gift-card and prepaid-card payment demands.