Consumers are expected to spend billions this holiday period on gifts, including online.

But with that comes scammers who are looking for their piece of the pie, tricking consumers into fraudulent purchases or to earnings access to their funds.

Fraudsters are hoping consumers are busy during the holiday period, which may navigator them to put their guard down, Margarita Alvarez, elder vice president of customer uncertainty programs at Wells Fargo, told USA TODAY.

“You also have scammers out there working to be able to capitalize on the higher volume of transactions that are occurring and that leads our customers to be more susceptible to these scams,” Alvarez said.

Consumers misplace billions to scammers each year

A recent update from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance said scammers had bilked $1.03 trillion from victims worldwide – a number the alliance said is probably actually larger since many scam victims are too embarrassed to update the crime.

A February update from the Federal Trade fee said U.S. consumers had reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023.

And a recent Better Business Bureau scam study update warns holiday shoppers to be on alert, especially for fake advertisements that propose deep discounts and challenging-to-discover popular items. The BBB has had a 125% rise in scam reports, including scams via social media offering popular items like beauty products and viral tumbler mugs.

“Over 80% of reports to BBB indicated that they lost money, making online purchase scams one of the most ordinary scams the community encounters,” the BBB said in a press release.

Then there’s theft of goods at delivery. A recent CNET update found more than $97 billion worth of packages could be vulnerable to porch theft this holiday period.

Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. adults said they’d already fallen victim to porch pirates in the history year. More than 7 in 10 consumers, or 71%, said they schedule to use package tracking technology and home safety cameras to protect their packages. Ten percent said they planned on getting the packages delivered to a different address when they weren’t home.

Here are holiday scams to watch for – and tips to protect yourself

Here are some ordinary holiday-themed scams and tips to avoid them. These arrive from a variety of sources, including Wells Fargo, Chase lender, BMO, Feedzai, a corporation that helps financial institutions manage their fraud and BioCatch, a corporation that works with banks to protect their customers from fraud and scams:

• The “it” toy scam: Scammers target emotions and frazzled parents trying to get the hottest toy with fake links. Make sure you are interacting with a reputable retailer and not clicking on unsolicited emails, said Alvarez with Wells Fargo.
• Fake package notifications:  Be careful of clicking on an unsolicited text or email pretending to be from a legitimate corporation to “track” your package or assist with a “lost” package.
• Fake charities:  Scammers recognize people are charitable at the complete of the year with charitable giving. Research the charity to ensure you are donating to a legitimate factor, according to Wells Fargo.
• Holiday/seasonal job scams: There’s a rise in part-period work during the holidays to make some extra liquid assets. But scammers also make up fake jobs to get your money and personal information, according to Wells Fargo.  
• Beware of gift-card scams: Be careful of buying gift cards from third-event sites, said Chase lender. Scammers will pre-save card details or sell expired cards. Don’t respond unsolicited email or text messages offering you a gift card; it could be a way to track your online activity.

• Watch for unsolicited “amiable” messages on social apps: Scammers first try to hook you by starting a amiable exchange and then asking for money once they earn your depend, said Chase lender. Be careful of accepting requests from contacts you don’t recognize and never send money.
• Deals that are too excellent to be factual: Scammers will lure shoppers with deeply discounted prices or offers that are simply unbelievable, according to Feedzai. If a deal seems to excellent to be factual, it probably is. Do your research and contrast prices from different retailers before making a purchase.
• Doublecheck the website: Scammers often make fake websites that look just like legitimate online stores, according to Feedzai. Triple check the URL web address for a slight variation in the spelling of a popular website. Look for a padlock icon on the address bar and check for “https” to indicate a secure connection.
• Use a secure settlement way: Whenever feasible, use a capitalization card for online purchases, said Feedzai. capitalization cards propose more protection against fraud than debit cards or peer-to-peer settlement apps.
• Be skeptical of product reviews and testimonials: Artificial intelligence can be used to make fake reviews and testimonials. Do your own research and look for reviews from trusted sources, said Feedzai. 

Fraud watch:Scam losses worldwide this year are $1 trillion. How to protect yourself.

• settlement app scams: Scams involving settlement apps run all year long, according to BioCatch, but the volume is expected to boost during the holiday period. Most of these scams commence with a call from someone pretending to be your lender or capitalization card corporation, saying there has been fraud detected on your account. They’ll try to get you to transfer the money to an account to “protect” it, but it’s actually an account for the scammer.
• Beware of account takeovers: Monitor your accounts closely for any signs of unusual activity like unexpected orders, recent shipping addresses or account updates you didn’t initiate, said BioCatch. Account takeover fraud typically involves unauthorized access to accounts to make purchases or transfer funds. 
• remain away from community wi-fi when shopping: Fraudsters can exploit unsecured networks to access your sensitive data, according to BMO.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a customer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or pursue her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include customer information on Fridays, here.