The holiday season brings a flurry of online shopping, travel plans, and end-of-year workplace activity. With that, it also brings a surge of phishing scams that try to take advantage of all that hustle and distraction. With inboxes filling up faster than gift lists, it becomes easier for a convincing message to slip through.
The United States FBI notes that holiday scams often involve criminals posing as trusted companies or contacts in order to steal personal information, credentials, or money. This includes emails or messages that encourage victims to click links, provide sensitive data, or download malware.
In this blog, we will take a closer look at the most common phishing tactics that tend to appear during the end of year festivities, and what to watch for as the holidays approach.
Holiday Phishing Threats at a Glance
Holiday phishing typically appears in a few consistent forms. These include:
- HR-themed phishing related to PTO, bonuses, and reviews
- Package delivery scams that spoof major carriers
- Fake sales and retail offers that lead to phishing sites
- Charity scam emails that imitate nonprofits
- Smishing and QR code-based scams
- AI-enhanced phishing that uses more convincing content
These themes tend to appear each season because they match common holiday behaviors, which attackers use to increase the likelihood of victims engaging with their messages.
HR Related Phishing Scams
End of year HR activity makes the fourth quarter a prime time for HR themed phishing. Cofense Intelligence recently reported that HR phishing campaigns spike in Q3 and Q4, aligning with common corporate processes such as benefits enrollment, compensation adjustments, employee surveys, PTO approvals, and performance reviews. Attackers exploit this predictable seasonal activity by spoofing legitimate HR communications.
These phishing emails often include references to bonuses, updated handbooks, holiday PTO approvals, or required end of year reviews. Since employees expect real HR updates during this period, they may be less suspicious of urgent requests to open links or attachments. Cofense Intelligence highlights seven major HR phishing themes, including compensation updates, benefits changes, policy revisions, and even false termination notices.
Shipping and Delivery Related Phishing Scams
With millions of packages shipped during the holiday season, threat actors frequently impersonate shipping carriers or retailers. The Federal Trade Commission cautions that scammers send fraudulent emails or text messages claiming a delivery delay, a missed package, or an issue with shipping information. Victims are prompted to click a link, which may lead to credential harvesting pages or malware.
These messages often contain fake tracking numbers and official-looking logos, making them appear authentic. Attackers rely on the high volume of legitimate delivery notices people receive during holiday shopping, which increases the chance that a victim will interact with the message without verifying it.
Last Minute Sales and Retail Phishing
As shoppers hunt for deals during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and last-minute holiday sales, scammers can take advantage by creating fake ads, counterfeit storefronts, and phishing emails that promise steep discounts.
News outlets have documented an increase in fraudulent online stores that mimic well-known brands and capture credit card information or login credentials. Sources:
Additionally, social media platforms frequently see fake promotions or gift card giveaways that lure users into providing personal information.
Other Holiday Phishing Themes to Watch
- Fake Charity Appeals: Cybercriminals send fraudulent emails posing as nonprofits to take advantage of charitable giving during the holiday season. These scams often feature emotional appeals or urgent donation requests.
- Smishing and Phone Based Phishing: SMS-based phishing, often referred to as “smishing,” can increase during the holidays. Attackers might claim there are account problems, unexpected charges, or shipping issues, and encourage recipients to click malicious links or call spoofed support numbers for help.
- AI Enhanced Phishing: Cybercriminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create highly convincing phishing emails, cloned websites, and deepfake audio or video. This rise, on which Cofense has reported extensively, will certainly allow threat actors to use personalized or realistic content to trick victims this holiday season.
Why Holiday Phishing Increases
Multiple cybersecurity studies confirm that phishing activity increases significantly during the holiday season. Shoppers are busier, workplaces experience high message volume, and distractions are common. Additionally, things like emotional hooks, frequent sales messages, and urgent workplace communications create an environment where phishing attempts might be more likely to succeed.
How to Recognize Holiday Phishing Attempts
To protect yourself or your organization, consider the following best practices based on guidance from the FBI and FTC:
- Scrutinize sender information and look closely for subtle misspellings or incorrect domains.
- Avoid clicking links in unsolicited emails or texts. Navigate directly to official websites instead.
- Treat urgent requests for personal or financial information as suspicious.
- Enable multi-factor authentication on important accounts.
- Keep antivirus software, browsers, and email filters current.
- When in doubt, verify through a trusted channel before acting.
By staying alert to seasonal phishing themes, employees and consumers can reduce the risk of falling victim during this high-risk period.
Frequently Asked Questions About Holiday Phishing
Why do phishing attacks increase during the holidays?
The combination of heavy email traffic, online shopping, travel planning, and workplace activity creates ideal conditions for attackers. People are distracted, which increases the likelihood of clicking before thinking.
What are the most common holiday phishing scams?
The most common scams involve HR notifications, shipping delays, fake sales, charity solicitations, and account problem alerts. These match seasonal behaviors, which makes them more believable.
How can I tell if an HR email is a phishing attempt?
Look for mismatched sender domains, unexpected attachments, or requests for login credentials. Compare the email to past legitimate HR communications. When unsure, reach out through a known internal channel.
How do I verify if a shipping notice is legitimate?
Check the tracking number directly on the carrier’s official website rather than clicking the link. If you were not expecting a package, treat the message with caution.
How does AI impact holiday phishing campaigns?
AI tools make it easier for attackers to craft personalized, error-free messages and realistic spoofed websites. This raises the overall quality of phishing content, which can make scams harder to detect.
Conclusion
The holiday season should be a time for celebration, not stress. Yet year after year, phishing activity increases as attackers take advantage of heavier inbox traffic, busier personal schedules, and seasonal behaviors that make their lures more believable.
Whether it is an HR email about bonuses, a shipping notice for a package you are expecting, or a last-minute sale that looks too good to pass up, cybercriminals craft their messages to blend in with the noise of the season. Understanding these patterns is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself and your organization.
By recognizing the signs of a phishing attempt and taking a moment to verify before clicking, individuals can dramatically reduce their risk. Organizations can reinforce this awareness by providing employees with the right training, intelligence, and tools that make it easier to spot suspicious messages.
With the growing sophistication of phishing attacks, especially those powered by AI, it has become more important than ever to take a proactive approach to email security during the holidays and throughout the year.
At Cofense, our platform allows organizations to identify and automatically quarantine post-perimeter phishing threats with speed and precision. Using real phishing intelligence, automated detection, and proven awareness training, Our unified, AI-powered platform helps organizations strengthen resilience at every stage of post-perimeter phishing defense.
Schedule a demo today to learn more.
Sources: FBI Holiday Scams Guidance, https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/holiday-scams; FTC Consumer Alerts, https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/12/scammers-are-delivering-phishing-messages-holiday-season; Times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/december-discounts-tis-season-to-be-merry-for-e-crooks-in-gujarat/articleshow/125844107.cms; Statesman, https://www.statesman.com/news/article/heb-scam-gift-card-facebook-messenger-online-tips-21223699.php; Norton Security, https://us.norton.com/blog/online-scams/holiday-scams;