Top 9 Scams to Watch Out for in 2025

Online scams are just as bad as ever, if not worse. Scammers are always working to stay ahead of consumers, and AI has made it even harder to avoid scams. As we start a new year, make smart buying – and scam avoiding – one of your most important goals. 

Consumers lost more than $10 billion being scammed last year. This is the highest number of losses ever reported, and we can expect online and AI scams to continue to grow. Protect yourself by knowing the 2025 scam trends and being vigilant in your online activity. 

Key Insights

• The biggest online scams include fake advertisements, websites, emails, and items designed to trick consumers into giving scammers payment information.
• The most important part of online shopping safety is taking the time to research the items, website, company, and payment options carefully. Many scams rely on customers clicking quickly without reading reviews or paying close attention to website URLs.
• Emerging technology like AI makes it harder than ever to spot scams, making consumer protection and spreading awareness a pressing issue. 

Social Media Shopping Scams

Online shopping scams are still a cornerstone of internet fraud. In these scams, online sellers promote products that don’t exist or are poor quality through ads and promoted posts on social media. You might encounter a bait-and-switch to an inferior product or just complete fraud, which takes your money and sends you absolutely nothing in return, exploiting the trust users place on their social media platforms and what appears to be legitimate advertising.

Among the consumer fraud examples on PissedConsumer, one reviewer explained that they ordered a laptop through a TikTok store, but it was never delivered. 

Even though it says on the app and UPS that it was delivered, I never received the package.

They also note the “store is no longer accessible on TikTok,” which points to a short-term money-making scam. 

Advice for consumers

The best scam warning for online shopping issues is suspicious account names or sales that appear to be too good to be true. If you see an enticing ad or post through your social media account, first check to see if the account is verified. If you don't see evidence of a verification, research the item in question on the Internet. 

Read customer reviews from a variety of sources, including consumer protection websites—not just the social media comments or advertising on the website. Those places won't always have trustworthy reviews. If you can't find enough proof that it's not a scam, skip it rather than risking your money or personal information. 

Game-Like Job Scams

Job scams are on the rise in 2025. These scams often include fake work-from-home job offers and game-like tasks consumers are asked to complete. A fake company may reach out to you, offering you a small gig or a job, much like authentic recruiters do. The job they are offering is a scam, however. Either you'll be "hired" and required to use your personal information to fill out your hiring paperwork for a job that doesn't exist, or you'll be given an opportunity that requires you to spend money to allegedly make money. But you don't actually make any money.

For example, one Reddit user explained that a sophisticated game-like job scam was offered to him through WhatsApp. After the user accepted the offer, he was added to a chat group with other "employees." He thought he "would have them sussed out" as scammers but ultimately fell for the scam. Ultimately, the Reddit poster lost $1500 because he didn't know when to stop, even after suspecting it was a fraud.

Advice for consumers

The Redditor who fell for the game-like job scam noted that “it’s scary how sophisticated” the scams have become. He noted that the major scam alert was that the “job” seemed too good to be true, and required him to pay money to make money.

To avoid falling for these sorts of scams, be constantly vigilant and do your online research about a new company before providing any information or funds. Scammers are sophisticated. Don’t assume that you’ll just know it’s a scam without researching the company and its reviews first. 

AI-Generated Products

Many of the top scam alerts 2025 is bringing are related to emerging AI technologies. If it can be created or manipulated, AI is already doing it. In these, scammers are using AI to create deceptive product advertisements, fake digital products, counterfeits of various things, and manipulated reviews about the various faked items. In short, it’s all potentially fake.

Nowadays, scammers can easily put together a fake store online and place a bunch of AI-generated products on sale. Customers order extraordinary-looking items for a suspiciously low price. In the process, scammers get credit card information and payment, essentially a sort of credit card fraud, and you get nothing at all or receive absolutely different products. 

Advice for consumers

There is no easy way to resolve the issue of AI and scams. As AI continues to improve, it will look even more realistic. In most cases of AI, a warning sign is how complex an item is for an ultra-low price. If a fancy or complex item is available for far, far less than it would take to manufacture the item, you’re likely looking at a scam. 

Another way to sort out scams is to look for reviews about the items online. Don’t look at comments on the ads – those are likely AI as well but find legitimate reviews about the items on verified sources before buying. Verify that products and the websites selling them are authentic before giving out any payment information. 

Spear-Phishing Scam

Phishing is one of many email scams using an email to a consumer to lead them to a fraudulent phone number or site. Unlike a general mass phishing email, spear-phishing is much more targeted. Spear-phishing scams use personal information curated from various sources, including social media accounts and posts, to personalize messages. 

These scams often impersonate someone the victim might know or trust, making them a particularly dangerous senior scam, targeting those who are less knowledgeable about online safety. 

In one example on LinkedIn, a spear-phishing email claimed Geek Squad was renewing an account that the author had never created. The email address was legitimate from a legitimate website, but it was only after contacting the company directly that the author learned the scammer set up a fake profile on a legitimate service to send out the renewal email. 

Source: linkedin.com

Advice for consumers

These email scams are increasingly hard to spot. To protect yourself, first check for obvious issues with spelling, website and URL addresses, and identify any red flags there. If that all checks out and you’re still suspicious, check out your own financial or email history to look for previous interactions with the company or email address. 

Still not finding anything that verifies a suspicious email? Contact the company directly. If you have a legitimate account, they will likely be happy to let you know. Can’t find any evidence of legitimacy? Leave it alone or report it. It’s almost certainly a scam. 

Tricky Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Offers

Buy now pay later offers are on their rise. BNPL allows customers to make a large purchase and pay it off a bit at a time, which can help items be more affordable. However, some scammers are creating fake buy now pay later offers, simply promising an item but stealing credit card, bank, or personal information instead. 

Even traditional, verified BNPL offers can be troublesome at times. In a customer’s review about Afterpay, they shared that they placed an order and linked their credit card info. However, when they were declined by Afterpay, the customer discovered a suspicious transaction:

… they [Afterpay] also swiped the amount of the order from my credit card and then I tried to contact afterpay… I didn't and haven't heard anything from anyone from afterpay!!

Advice for consumers

Your best bet to avoid falling for buy now pay later scams is to avoid the services all together. Use special offers on your credit card, if available, to spread out payments or pay for your items upfront. If you are using a buy now pay later service, use only the valid services with established reputations and histories. You can check the history of these companies online and in various customer reviews. 

Account Recovery Scams

Account recovery scammers often present themselves as "recovery agents" or even hackers, claiming they can help you recover your lost funds or access a compromised account. They may reach out to you directly or advertise their services online.

One Reddit user shared that their Ubisoft account was hacked, and following many recommendations on social media, they asked for help from "recovery experts." The scammers required him to buy a gift card and provide its screenshot as a payment method. 

Source: reddit.com

Luckily, the user quickly got his account back with help of the official Ubisoft customer service, before trusting his information and money to scammers. As such assistants usually disappear after the payment is made, leaving you with an unsolved problem and empty pockets.

Advice for consumers

Scammers often reach out unsolicited, pretending to be recovery agents. They might demand upfront payments for things like “fees” or “insurance” and rely on vague promises instead of showing real progress. If someone asks for payment in gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers, it’s time to walk away. The only safe way to recover your account is to contact a company directly using the contact information on their website. 

Greenwashing Campaigns

Sustainability is a growing concern among consumers, and companies and scammers know this and are working to entice businesses by claiming products are "green" or eco-friendly. If a business promotes itself as green or eco-friendly and isn't, it's a scam or, at the very least, a bad business. 

In a greenwashing campaign scam, you typically see exaggerated claims, unverifiable certifications, and misleading advertisements. One skincare brand went viral on TikTok for the wrong reasons. The brand claimed a skincare item came in a refillable container. When a viewer watched a commentary on the ad. However, some creators pointed out it was greenwashing since the skincare was in a non-refillable container and had a transferable case instead. 

Source: tiktok.com

Advice for consumers

The best advice to avoid falling prey to fancy words like “sustainable” or “ecofriendly” is to do a bit of critical analysis and research into the products or services you’re buying. Some, like the example above, use misleading labels that are clearly wrong. Others might only be uncovered by reading reviews or doing a bit of research on various products before buying. 

Fake E-Commerce Websites

Fake websites have become a classic scam that is still relevant in 2025. In these scams, a fake website is designed to look just like an original. Customers interact with the fraud site, thinking it is legitimate. When they make a purchase, the scammers get money, payment information, and personal details, and the customer gets nothing.

Often, these fake e-commerce websites are designed with URLs similar to the original website, hoping to draw customers into a scam with typos or innocuous spelling details. For example, a customer was scammed by a fake Costco website, where she made a purchase. She noted that the URL of the scam site was "Cosstca.com," not Costco.com, but it was too late to avoid losing money to the scam. 

Source: reddit.com

Advice for consumers

Your most important step to protect yourself is to check the URL of a website before making any purchases. If the URL seems odd – a misspelling of the company’s name, for example – research further before submitting any payment information. If you fall prey to this sort of scam, notify your credit card or debit card bank immediately to dispute the charges and lock down your card against additional purchases or scams. 

Subscription Renewal Scam

Similar to spear-phishing, subscription renewal scams notify consumers about services that are going to expire and need to be renewed. The email or call may say the service is about to be cut off without renewal, or it may include a link to click to “confirm” a renewal with “updated payment information.” Regardless, it’s not real, but looks real, and steals money and payment information. 

Renewal Scams often cite renewal for popular services and streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix or software like Microsoft or Google products. In one Reddit thread, a poster asked about a suspicious email about renewing McAfee services. The email included a phone number to call and a sense of urgency. 

Source: reddit.com

Here is another example of a fake renewal email.

Advice for consumers

Critical thinking and a close inspection of the email will help you avoid this scam. Look closely at the email address or URL address where the email originated, and you’ll likely see something questionable. If you have a service that might be up for renewal, ignore the email and log directly into the service provider’s website to check on renewal dates and amounts. 

Do not call phone numbers or click links in emails that seem questionable. You can contact customer service for the streaming service directly with any questions or concerns about your accounts. 

Protecting Yourself from Scams

A smart consumer knows that the best protection from scams is to exercise extreme wariness. Check and double-check your actions, websites, and offers. Check online reviews to be sure you’re not falling for a clever ruse and help protect others by sharing your own experiences. Have your own experience spotting a scam? Why not write a review and warn others.