Holiday Scam Season: Turning Vulnerabilities into Long-Term Resilience

More transactions, less vigilant consumers, and countless digital impersonators ready to exploit them – for scam-targeted industries and cyber teams, the holiday season is a full-spectrum stress test.

Those who pass with flying colors have likely adopted key reinforcements that adapt posture for the era of off-the-shelf social engineering scams assisted by AI. Those that don’t are likely still reliant on outdated solutions and customer education.

Before exploring some fraud prevention adaptations enterprises should be adopting, let’s cover a real-world example of what success looks like in terms of passing the seasonal holiday scams stress test.

How Amazon Adapts Cyber Posture to Expect the Unexpected During the Holiday Scam Season

During the 2023 holiday season, the company faced a massive challenge when over 45,000 phishing websites attempted to mirror its shopping experience, aiming to deceive customers into revealing sensitive information like credit card details. These phishing attacks highlighted key vulnerabilities that were left by traditional fraud prevention measures.

Amazon’s multi-layered approach involved:

• Real-Time Domain Monitoring: Amazon used sophisticated monitoring systems that continuously analyzed user behavior, allowing the company to detect suspicious activity, such as unusual login attempts or domain impersonations, as soon as they emerged.
• AI and machine learning technologies to identify potentially fraudulent activities in real-time, giving teams the time and insight to make preventive interventions before attacks gained traction, impacting customers.
• Collaboration with Law Enforcement: Amazon partnered with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to swiftly remove fraudulent websites, thereby reducing consumer exposure to phishing scams and impersonation attacks.

This proactive and adaptive response protected brand reputation, minimized financial losses, and maintained consumer trust during the holiday rush.

The lessons from Amazon’s experience emphasize the importance of adopting a comprehensive and proactive strategy that incorporates AI-assisted, pre-emptive capabilities to see threats coming, particularly during peak shopping seasons. Businesses that adopt AI-driven, real-time monitoring will be best positioned to turn the challenges of the holiday season into opportunities for reinforcing their resilience.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are Some of the Most Popular Days for Both Shoppers and Scammers

The holiday shopping rush kicks off with Black Friday and Cyber Monday—days that have not only become iconic for deals but also prime targets for scammers. According to the 2024 Cyber Safety Insights Report by Gen Digital, nearly all consumers (98%) plan to do their holiday shopping online, with a significant number aiming to make purchases on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. These peak days are increasingly exploited by scammers who take advantage of high consumer activity and urgency-driven buying behavior.

Shoppers express confidence in their ability to shop safely online, with 73% of respondents feeling “very” or “somewhat” confident about their safety. However, fewer than one in four are sure about how to stay safe. This gap between confidence and preparedness allows scammers to capitalize on vulnerable consumers. In the U.S. alone, 53% of shoppers express concern about being scammed when shopping online during these high-traffic days.

Among those in the U.S. who fell victim to a scam during the holiday season, 30% reported being targeted on Black Friday, while 11% fell prey on Cyber Monday. The tactics range from phishing emails and fake websites to AI-driven impersonation schemes designed to steal sensitive information such as credit card details or login credentials. The financial impact is substantial, with the average amount lost to scams reaching over $1,000 in many regions globally.

• Impulse Buying & Scarcity: Scammers frequently exploit the scarcity of holiday items and the urgency of flash sales, which makes consumers more susceptible to clicking on suspicious links. Nearly 1 in 5 adults admit they are more likely to engage with dubious offers during holiday promotions, and this tendency is even more pronounced among Gen Z shoppers.
• Social Media as a Scam Hotspot: Social media and third-party websites remain popular platforms for scammers. The Gen Digital report found that 40% of Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams originated on social media. Scammers use flashy ads, fake promotions, and cloned retail pages to lure unsuspecting shoppers.

To mitigate the risks associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, businesses must enhance real-time monitoring, adopt advanced fraud detection systems, and leverage AI to better understand emerging scam tactics. Retailers that take these proactive steps not only protect their customers but also reinforce their brand’s reputation, turning a potential vulnerability into a strategic advantage.

Systemic Preparedness: Strategic Recommendations for Cybersecurity Leaders

Rather than focusing solely on specific product solutions, this section offers strategic recommendations for businesses looking to shift from holiday panic to strategic preparedness:

Be Predictive, Not Just Preventive: AI-driven techniques like ATO prediction models now help track precursor signals—such as users interacting with suspicious links—to take specific actions, such as initiating multi-factor authentication (MFA), notifying the user, or temporarily locking the account, even before a breach occurs. Recognizing warning signs allows security teams to move from reactive response to proactive defense.

Leverage Real-Time Threat Visibility: situational awareness across devices, sessions, and user activity enables rapid and accurate decision-making during heightened holiday threats, such as deciding to temporarily block suspicious activity, require additional authentication, or escalate the issue to a dedicated response team. The ability to assign severity to device behaviors, particularly during suspicious activity, helps prevent unauthorized access without compromising legitimate transactions. Red Team & Simulations:the holidays as a cybersecurity stress test by conducting phishing simulations or red team exercises to prepare staff for potential attacks when vigilance may be compromised.

Automate Repetitive Security Processes: repetitive security checks and access verifications can help businesses handle the surge of activity, even when staff resources are stretched.

Holiday-Specific Protocols: red-alert protocols specifically for known holiday attack vectors, such as credential stuffing, site impersonation, and phishing scams. For example, implementing protocols to rapidly verify the legitimacy of promotional campaigns can help mitigate the surge in fake ‘limited-time offers’ that exploit consumers’ fear of missing out (FOMO). Making incident response specific to holiday threats, such as establishing protocols for instant account lockdown in case of multiple failed login attempts or setting up expedited customer communication workflows, can streamline decisions in moments of crisis.

Conclusion: Turning Holiday Vulnerabilities into Long-Term Advantages

User behavior, social engineering methods, and channels, phishing attempt rates, impersonation tactics – the holiday season is rich with evolving threats, and savvy enterprises will use this fact to their advantage. Ultimately, a threat-rich environment is also one with an abundance of data points to learn from. If properly leveraged, the predictable spike in holiday scams can provide insights to help security leaders advocate for more pre-emptive and adaptive defenses year-