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Google’s holiday scam warning dates to December 2024, not a newly issued 2026 alert. It highlighted fake invoices, celebrity or influencer impersonation, and extortion emails. The practical defense is simple: pause, check the sender and details independently, never pay or share information under pressure, and report suspicious messages. Those same habits help with delivery texts, fake stores, bogus charity appeals, and other seasonal scams.
What Google warned about
In a December 2024 holiday-season post, Google said scam and email traffic had risen sharply from mid-November and warned that scammers might change tactics for another wave. It highlighted three email patterns: fake invoices, celebrity or influencer scams, and extortion attempts.
Google also reported that Gmail blocked more than 99.9% of spam, phishing, and malware from reaching inboxes. The company said users reported 35% fewer scams reaching their inboxes during the first month of that holiday season than in the same period a year earlier. Google attributed part of the improvement to AI-based defenses, including a large language model that it said blocked 20% more spam and helped review substantially more user-reported cases.
Those are Google-reported Gmail metrics, not measurements of all fraud or all holiday scams, and they are not a guarantee that a message reaching your inbox is safe. Scams also arrive by text, phone, search and social-media ads, websites, and messaging apps. Google’s later 2025 seasonal advisory discussed fake storefronts, impersonated brands, fake prizes, and delivery-message scams.
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Why scams feel more convincing during the holidays
Scammers exploit the extra activity and time pressure of the season. A fake delivery notice can sound plausible when you are expecting packages. A bogus invoice may resemble a real purchase or subscription renewal. Rushed shoppers may act on a limited-time deal, while charitable giving and family travel create opportunities for impersonation and payment requests.
The emotional hook is often urgency, fear, generosity, curiosity, or the promise of an unusually good deal. An unexpected message that demands immediate payment or personal information deserves extra scrutiny, whatever channel it uses.
The three scams in Google’s warning
Fake invoices
You receive an invoice for an expensive product or subscription you do not recognize. The message may instruct you to call a number to dispute or cancel the charge. A fake support agent then asks for banking details, remote access to your device, or a payment to “resolve” the problem.
Warning signs include an invoice you did not expect, a phone number supplied in the email, pressure to pay before a dispute can be processed, or requests for gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or remote-control software. A sender address that resembles a real company’s address but does not match is another clue. Do not call the number or use the email’s links. Find the company’s contact details yourself in its official app, on a statement, or by typing its known website address.
Celebrity, influencer, and brand impersonation
A message may claim that a celebrity is giving away money, that a famous person endorses an investment, or that a brand wants to hire you for a promotion. Scammers can copy names, logos, photos, and social-media profiles. A convincing appearance is not proof the offer is genuine.
Be especially wary if you must pay upfront for products, shipping, or a fee to take part. Google’s guidance on fake influencer arrangements describes scams that request advance payment. Verify an offer through the person or company’s independently found official channels, not a link or contact supplied in the message.
Extortion emails
An extortion message may include your address, a photograph of your home, or a claim that the sender hacked your account or device and will release private material unless you pay—often in cryptocurrency. Personal details or a public photograph do not, by themselves, prove that your device was hacked.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsDo not reply, pay, or open attachments. Save the message and evidence. If the threat suggests a credible risk of physical harm, contact local law enforcement. Report financial demands or attempted fraud through the appropriate channels below.
Other holiday scams to watch for
Gift-card requests
A scammer may pose as a relative, manager, charity, government agency, retailer, or technical-support representative and ask you to buy gift cards and send a photograph or redemption code. Treat an urgent request for gift-card numbers as fraudulent until you verify it with the supposed sender through a separate, known channel. Once a code is shared, the balance may be spent quickly.
If you already sent a code, contact the card issuer immediately, keep the card and receipt, and ask whether it can freeze the balance or help with recovery. Also report the incident to the FTC and the platform used to contact you.
Fake charity appeals
A fraudulent appeal may use a name very close to that of a real charity, request payment to an individual, or demand cryptocurrency, gift cards, a wire transfer, or payment through an app. Unexpected links and emotional pressure tied to a breaking event are reasons to stop and verify. Visit the charity’s official website independently and check its identity and payment options before donating. Google has warned that charity-related phishing can intensify during the giving season.
Delivery and package-tracking messages
Texts and emails may say that your address is incomplete, a small redelivery fee is due, or a package will be returned unless you act. Google’s 2025 guidance identified package-tracking scams and messages impersonating delivery companies.
Check the order through the retailer’s order page or the carrier’s official app or website. Do not use a link in an unsolicited delivery message or provide payment details for a claimed fee there.
Fake online stores and tempting deals
Lookalike domains, sponsored search ads that imitate retailers, and social-media shops can promote stolen product photos, fake reviews, or discounts that are implausibly large. Missing contact details or a usable return policy are warning signs. A padlock or HTTPS connection only means the connection is encrypted; it does not establish that a store is legitimate.
Type the retailer’s address yourself or use its official app. Check the domain, contact details, return policy, and payment options. Prefer a payment method with a way to dispute an unauthorized or misrepresented transaction, and avoid paying unfamiliar sellers by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.
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A fake antivirus, streaming, software, or cloud-storage renewal may include an invoice and a phone number to “cancel.” Check subscriptions by signing in through the provider’s official site or app, not through the email. Google has identified fake antivirus-renewal notices as a seasonal pattern.
A prize message is also suspicious if it asks you to pay taxes, shipping, processing fees, or a refundable deposit before you can receive the prize. The FTC warns that prize scams may seek card or bank details or demand payment by hard-to-reverse methods. See its prize-scam guidance.
A 60-second check before you respond
- Pause. Treat urgency, threats, and “last chance” claims as reasons to slow down, not as reasons to act.
- Inspect the source. Check the full sender address rather than just the display name. Preview a link without opening it—hover on desktop or press and hold on mobile. Look for misspellings, extra words, unusual domains, or shortened URLs. Do not open unexpected attachments.
- Use a separate route to verify. Call a relative at a saved number, open the retailer’s app, visit a bank by typing its address, or check an order through the retailer or carrier directly. A polished logo, correct spelling, or familiar email thread is not conclusive; accounts can be spoofed or compromised.
- Refuse unusual payment demands. Be especially cautious of gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, and peer-to-peer payments. Do not install remote-access software at the request of an unsolicited caller or email.
- Report the message. Use the reporting option in the email, messaging, or social platform. Reporting can help detection, but it does not guarantee that a message will be removed everywhere or that lost money will be recovered.
Do not assume that a Google Search result or sponsored ad is safe simply because it appears on Google. Verify the business and its domain before paying.
Google tools that can help
Use Google’s protections as extra layers, not as substitutes for checking a request. Google recommends tools including Security Checkup, 2-Step Verification, passkeys where supported, and Google Password Manager. Review recent account activity, connected devices, recovery options, and security settings. Use unique passwords, and make sure your recovery email and phone number are current and controlled by you.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →In Gmail, open a suspicious message and choose Report spam or Report phishing. Do not reply or click its links. Contact an impersonated friend or colleague separately, using a known number or another trusted channel. Keep a message instead of deleting it if you need it as evidence.
Chrome’s Safe Browsing protections can warn about some dangerous sites and downloads. Android’s Phone app and Google Messages may offer options to block or report suspicious calls and messages. Google Wallet virtual card numbers may reduce exposure of an underlying card number for eligible transactions. Availability and controls can vary by account, administrator settings, device, card issuer, merchant, language, and region; none of these features proves a seller or message is genuine.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.If you already clicked or shared something
You clicked a link but entered nothing
Close the page and do not download or install anything it offered. Update your browser and operating system, run the device’s built-in security scan, and review browser extensions for anything unfamiliar. If you entered a password or it was autofilled on the site, treat it as exposed and change it using the official app or website.
You submitted a password or account details
From the official service—not the message link—change the password immediately. Change it on every other account where you reused it. Sign out unfamiliar sessions and devices, check recovery email and phone settings, and review email forwarding rules and filters for unauthorized changes. Turn on 2-Step Verification or set up a passkey where supported. Contact the service’s official support channel if you cannot regain control.
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Contact the bank, card issuer, payment app, gift-card issuer, or cryptocurrency exchange immediately. Ask whether it can stop, freeze, reverse, or dispute the transaction; recovery is not guaranteed, and authorized transfers may be difficult to reverse. Cancel or replace exposed cards, and change banking credentials from a clean device if possible.
Keep receipts, transaction IDs, screenshots, phone numbers, email details, and URLs. Report the fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Depending on the incident, report it to local law enforcement or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. If Social Security or identity documents were exposed, use the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov recovery guidance as well.
Recovery prospects depend in part on how the money was sent. Contact a credit-card issuer promptly about a disputed charge; contact a bank promptly if a debit card or bank transfer was involved; and contact gift-card issuers immediately if codes were shared. Peer-to-peer transfers, wire transfers, cash, and cryptocurrency can be especially hard to recover. No payment method or institution guarantees reimbursement.
The rule to remember
Google’s filtering can reduce what reaches your inbox, but it cannot make every remaining message safe or cover every scam channel. When an unexpected request pairs urgency with a demand for money, credentials, or personal information, stop and verify it somewhere other than the message itself.
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