Home / Crime and Justice / FBI Warns: Holiday Scams Drain Bank Accounts!
FBI Warns: Holiday Scams Drain Bank Accounts!
4 Dec
Summary
- Cybercriminals target email users with holiday scams, draining bank accounts.
- Americans lost over $785 million to non-payment and non-delivery scams in 2024.
- Account takeover scams lead to over $262 million in losses since January 2025.
Email users across the United States are being urged by the FBI to exercise extreme caution due to a significant rise in holiday scams. Cybercriminals are actively infiltrating inboxes, aiming to drain victims' bank accounts through various fraudulent schemes.
These prevalent holiday schemes include non-delivery scams where buyers pay for items that never arrive, and non-payment scams where sellers ship goods without receiving compensation. Additionally, auction fraud and gift card scams are on the rise, with criminals preferring gift cards for their irrecoverable nature. Since January 2025, over 5,100 complaints related to Account Takeover (ATO) fraud have been logged, resulting in reported losses exceeding $262 million.
The FBI advises vigilance against suspicious links and attachments, emphasizing that a single click can compromise devices. They recommend verifying company contact information independently and being wary of requests to update account details. Victims of fraud should immediately contact their financial institutions to request a recall or reversal and report the incident to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Resetting all compromised credentials is also a crucial step to prevent further losses.
