Avoid the Grinch by Steering Clear of Holiday Scams

Scammers are taking advantage of the holiday hubbub to defraud consumers in increasingly sophisticated schemes.

While prevalent year-round, financial scams are expected to pick up during the holiday season, when busy consumers might be off their guard. Scams through the Zelle network have received wide attention recently, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) calling in banking hearings this fall for more consumer protections on the platform. Complaints related to Zelle grew 86% over the past year through BeenVerified, a company that offers reverse phone and people search services. More broadly, 22% of consumers reported experiencing fraudulent transactions on a payment provider like Zelle,


PayPal Holdings


(ticker: PYPL), and PayPal unit Venmo, according to a survey of 4,000 retail bank customers conducted by J.D. Power as part of the company’s December 2022 Banking and Payments Intelligence Report.