The 12 Cyber Threats to Watch This Holiday Season

The 12 Cyber Threats to Watch This Holiday Season

The period following Black Friday marks the beginning of the most active cyber threat window of the year. As holiday shopping accelerates across e-commerce, in-store retail, mobile apps, and social platforms, threat actors take advantage of increased transaction volumes, reduced internal staffing, and the general distraction that comes with end-of-year operations. Attack frequency reliably rises between late November and early January, and the tactics used each season continue to evolve as attackers adopt more advanced tooling and automation.

As an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) and Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), Clone Systems observes these shifts across a broad range of environments. The seasonal threat landscape now includes traditional phishing and fraud attempts, but also AI-assisted impersonation, supply-chain exploitation, automated credential attacks, and increasingly sophisticated payment-page compromises. This article outlines twelve of the most relevant threats organizations should be aware of as they navigate the holiday period, along with considerations for protecting cardholder data, customer information, and internal systems.

1. Order Confirmation Phishing

Immediately after major shopping events, consumers anticipate a high number of order confirmation messages, shipment updates, and delivery notifications. Threat actors take advantage of this expectation by sending phishing emails designed to resemble well-known retailers, carriers, and payment providers. These emails often contain fake tracking links or prompts to “verify payment details.”

Modern phishing kits make these messages increasingly convincing. AI-generated branding, perfectly written emails, and dynamically created phishing pages allow attackers to bypass traditional warning signs customers once relied on. For merchants, the risk is not only customer compromise but also the reputational impact if their brand is impersonated.

2. Delivery Notification Scams

Delivery-related scams remain among the most active seasonal threats. SMS messages claiming a package is delayed or cannot be delivered are widely distributed during December. These messages typically route users to malicious sites that request login credentials or payment information.

What distinguishes current delivery scams from those of previous years is the use of automated orchestration tools. Threat actors can now deploy large volumes of highly targeted messages with carrier-specific language, improving the likelihood of successful attacks. Organizations with mobile workforces should ensure employees are aware of these risks, as device compromises can propagate into corporate environments.

3. Fake Promotions and Discount Abuse

Fraudulent promotions are particularly effective during holiday shopping surges. Attackers create ads, landing pages, and emails offering unrealistic discounts, exclusive access to products, or limited-time holiday deals. These schemes are often supported by AI-generated imagery and polished marketing copy, making them appear credible.

These malicious campaigns frequently serve as the first stage of credential theft, payment fraud, or account takeover activity. Once attackers obtain a customer’s login information for one site, automated tools quickly attempt the same credentials across multiple services, taking advantage of widespread password reuse.

4. Malicious QR Codes

As QR codes become increasingly common for payments, menus, event check-ins, and promotional materials, attackers have begun placing fraudulent codes in public locations. When scanned, these codes may redirect individuals to cloned payment portals or malware-hosting websites.

The challenge for businesses is that malicious QR codes can be placed on top of legitimate signage without their knowledge. Retailers, event organizers, and hospitality businesses should regularly inspect physical materials, especially during the holiday season when foot traffic is higher and staff may be stretched thin.

5. Vulnerable E-Commerce Plugins and Integrations

One of the most pressing risks for merchants is the exploitation of outdated or unpatched e-commerce plugins. Platforms such as Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify rely heavily on third-party extensions for functionality. Attackers actively scan these platforms after Black Friday, looking for vulnerabilities introduced by plugins, themes, and integrations.

Common techniques include payment-page manipulation, injection of card-skimming scripts, unauthorized creation of administrative accounts, and manipulation of checkout workflows. These compromises are often difficult for merchants to detect without continuous monitoring or scanning. From a PCI perspective, vulnerable plugins frequently lead to ASV scan failures early in the new year, and in severe cases may expose full cardholder data.

6. Impersonation and Support Call Scams

Telephone-based impersonation remains a persistent threat. Attackers pretend to be fraud departments, payment processors, card brands, or online marketplaces. Advancements in AI-generated voice cloning make these calls more convincing, allowing attackers to mimic corporate representatives or even employees.

These callers typically claim suspicious account activity or payment failures and attempt to pressure their targets into sharing credentials or granting remote access. Organizations should ensure employees are trained to verify the identity of any unsolicited caller requesting sensitive information, especially during the holidays.

7. Gift Card Fraud and Activation Manipulation

Gift card fraud increases significantly during the holiday season. Attackers may tamper with physical cards in stores, replace barcodes, or use automated bots to rapidly check balances. Once a card is activated, the balance can be stolen within seconds.

Digital gift cards are equally vulnerable. Fraudsters often use stolen credit cards to purchase large volumes of digital cards, which are quickly resold or laundered. Merchants should implement velocity checks, identity verification, and monitoring for anomalous purchase patterns to reduce exposure.

8. Seasonal Staff Phishing

The onboarding of temporary holiday staff introduces additional risks. These employees are often unfamiliar with internal procedures and may lack security awareness training. Attackers exploit this by sending phishing messages that mimic onboarding instructions, payroll portals, schedule updates, or HR communications.

AI-generated phishing content has made these attacks much more sophisticated. Organizations should ensure that temporary staff have access to clear, simple security guidance and that all onboarding workflows are well-defined and consistent.

9. Fraudulent Donation and Fundraising Sites

End-of-year charitable giving creates opportunities for attackers to deploy convincing donation pages and fundraising sites. These websites often use cloned branding and AI-generated content to appear authentic. Victims may unknowingly enter payment information or personal details into a fraudulent system.

Businesses that promote legitimate charitable initiatives should verify the security of any third-party fundraising portals they link to and remind employees and customers to validate website addresses before donating.

10. Social Media Promotion Scams

Social media remains a significant vector for seasonal fraud. Attackers create accounts promoting giveaways, contests, discount codes, or exclusive holiday campaigns. These promotions often lead users to credential-harvesting pages or require them to share sensitive information to “enter.”

The use of AI-generated images and automated account creation tools allows threat actors to scale these campaigns rapidly. Organizations should monitor for unauthorized use of their branding on social platforms.

11. Malicious Digital Greetings

Digital greeting cards and holiday messages may contain malicious attachments or links that deploy keyloggers, spyware, or remote access tools. These messages often appear to come from known contacts, especially when attackers compromise one email account and use it to send messages to others.

Employees should be cautious with any unexpected attachments, and organizations should ensure endpoint protection tools are capable of detecting modern fileless and script-based malware.

12. Invoice and Subscription Fraud

During the final weeks of the year, financial teams process a high volume of renewals, invoices, and subscription payments. Attackers exploit this by sending fraudulent invoices that resemble legitimate vendors. These may include fake support contracts, software renewals, hosting fees, or service subscriptions.

Because many finance departments operate with reduced staffing near the end of the year, fraudulent invoices have a higher chance of being paid. Strong internal controls, vendor verification procedures, and segregation of duties remain essential.

Strengthening Defenses During the Holiday Season

To reduce risk during this high-threat period, organizations should take several proactive steps. First, it is critical to patch e-commerce platforms and review all third-party plugins, especially those involved in payment processing. Many successful breaches occur because organizations delay patching during high-traffic periods.

Running an ASV scan toward the end of the year or immediately after major code changes can help identify vulnerabilities before they lead to compliance issues or attacks. Merchants should also verify that their monitoring tools are functioning properly and that logging is retained for an adequate period.

Employee awareness is equally important. Providing brief, focused security guidance to seasonal staff can prevent a significant number of attacks. Organizations should reinforce policies related to password hygiene, suspicious links, and verification of unusual requests.

Finally, organizations should review their incident response and escalation workflows. Cyberattacks often occur when internal teams are unavailable or operating with limited resources. Ensuring that monitoring coverage is consistent throughout the season, especially during holiday closures, is essential.

Conclusion

The holiday season creates a unique and challenging security environment. With increased consumer activity, expanded attack surfaces, and evolving AI-enabled threats, organizations must remain vigilant throughout the final weeks of the year. By understanding the most common risks and implementing strong preventative measures, businesses can maintain operational stability, protect customer data, and reduce the likelihood of a breach.

Clone Systems continues to support organizations in strengthening their defenses, ensuring PCI compliance, and navigating the evolving threat landscape during this critical period and beyond.