Fake Sellers Trap Shoppers Racing for Holiday Deals

Marketplace scams are emerging as one of the fastest growing threats facing holiday shoppers, taking advantage of consumers who are searching for deals and making rapid decisions during the busiest shopping stretch of the year.

As Black Friday approaches, fraudsters intensify their activity across digital channels, especially on marketplaces where listings appear credible, urgent and familiar.

Better Business Bureau Warnings on Holiday Fraud

The Better Business Bureau’s scam alerts warn that marketplace and eCommerce scams spike ahead of the holidays. Fraudsters create fake listings, generate convincing seller profiles and rely on shoppers’ urgency to buy before deals expire. Impersonation of delivery companies and customer support also rises, allowing scammers to blend into legitimate marketplace workflows.

Holiday Spending Trends Raise the Risk

The combination of higher digital spending and heightened price sensitivity is ideal for scammers. Shoppers looking for lower prices often try unfamiliar sites, pursue last minute deals and move fast when inventory appears limited. Holiday expectations of quick replies and fast transaction resolution give fraudsters an opening to mimic legitimate sellers and accelerate the payment process.

PYMNTS Intelligence research finds scammers increasingly tailor their approaches to individual vulnerabilities. The report produced with Featurespace, titled “How Scammers Tailor Financial Scams to Individual Consumer Vulnerabilities,” shows that 3 in 10 U.S. consumers, or roughly 77 million people, lost money to a scam in the past five years, with most losing more than $500 and many losing thousands.

Generational differences shape exposure. Younger consumers commonly encounter scams on social platforms, while older consumers are more harmed by fake eCommerce and marketplace scams. According to the report, baby boomers and seniors experience fake eCommerce scams more than three times as often as Gen Z, reflecting a vulnerability that intensifies during the holiday shopping period.

Fraudsters craft messages that mirror the tone, pace and style of marketplace communication. During the holidays, they imitate seller language, use stolen product images and adopt the rapid messaging cadence that shoppers expect.

Block Report Shows How Marketplace Scams Break Trust

The PYMNTS Intelligence report commissioned by Block, “Financial Scams and Consumer Trust,” illustrated the deeper implications. Among households that experienced financial losses in the past five years, fake eCommerce and marketplace scams were the most financially damaging type of scam for baby boomers and seniors, affecting 18% of victims in that group.

Speed is central to scam success. More than half of all victims send money within 24 hours of first contact, and nearly one in four pay within 30 minutes. Holiday shopping reinforces this urgency because consumers expect limited time promotions and fast selling merchandise. Scammers build their schemes around these expectations.

Impersonation defines the broader fraud landscape. PYMNTS Intelligence finds that 81% of scams involve a fraudster posing as a trusted authority or friendly contact, which aligns with marketplace environments where shoppers expect routine communication about orders and deliveries.

Demographics deepen the complexity. Millennials and Gen Z report the highest overall scam exposure. Consumers with college degrees report being scammed at a rate of 22%, higher than the 18% reported among those without degrees. Yet fake marketplace scams still hit older adults hardest, matching their online shopping patterns during the holidays.

The Financial Services Fallout

Scams significantly reshape consumer behavior. PYMNTS Intelligence showed that after being scammed, 32% of victims stop opening emails from unknown senders, 30% stop answering calls or texts from unfamiliar numbers and 25% avoid shopping on unfamiliar websites. These changes reduce marketplace activity, limit merchant volumes and dampen digital engagement.

Trust in financial institutions also erodes. Forty two percent of victims consider switching banks after a scam and 19% do so. Twenty three percent never report the scam to their financial institution, and 27% of those say they did not know they could report it. Reporting is crucial because 53% of victims who notify their financial institution recover most or all of their funds, compared with only 12% who never report.

Providers Must Prepare for a Fraud Heavy Holiday Season

Holiday shopping will be strong, and fraud pressure will rise with it. Banks, merchants and payment providers can limit harm by strengthening detection capabilities, improving customer education and simplifying reporting. Scammers are adjusting their playbooks to holiday spending behaviors, and institutions that act early will be better positioned to protect shoppers and preserve trust during the busiest season of the year.