Personalized Gift Scams: What Last-Minute Shoppers Need to Know to Stay Safe

The holiday season offers you the chance to surprise loved ones with thoughtful, personalized gifts such as custom clothing, keychains, photo-based paint-by-numbers kits, and more.

Last-minute shoppers scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok should beware that some of these products might be scams—even if they look great in the ad.

In a recent consumer alert, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) noted it received numerous reports of shoppers whose purchases were far from what they expected—or who received nothing at all.

How the Scam Works

So, you’re scrolling through your social media feed, and you spot a great ad promoting personalized gifts for your loved ones. It could be anything from a personalized Christmas tree ornament to clothing, bed sheets, or jewelry. You’re intrigued and click on the ad. The website looks professional and the reviews are great. You see it’s a limited-time offer, and that’s when you decide to place an order.

What can happen?

Shoppers often report that:

The products are of low quality or don’t match the description.
Personalization errors render the gift unusable.
The order never arrives, despite receiving a confirmation email.
When contacting customer service, you are ignored or given false assurances

In many cases, scammers simply disappear, leaving shoppers with no way to get a refund.

Real Stories from Victims

According to a BBB Scam Tracker report, a shopper who bought a hoodie online said:
“After 5 days, I hadn’t received a shipping notification and got curious. Returning to the site, I used their tracking option, but there was no result. I called the phone number on the site, which connected to a garage door company.”

Another report detailed how a consumer fell for an ad advertising a “Going Out of Business” sale for a major retailer:
“I placed an order using my debit card and later found out it was a scam. The retailer had no affiliation with the website, which was set up to look like the real thing.”

Scam Alert: Fake Jewelry Store Ads Exploit Heart-Felt Stories to Steal Your Money

How to Avoid Getting Scammed

Research the business before purchasing:

Examine the website for red flags such as poor-quality images, generic product descriptions, and spelling or grammatical errors. Additionally, conduct a reverse image search to check if any of the visuals or products are being sold by other companies.
Verify the business’s contact information, such as a working phone number, email address, or physical location.
Search for the company name on trusted sites like BBB.org, and check for complaints.
Read reviews on independent websites

Scrutinize to-good-to-be-true ads

Ads promising extreme discounts, free products, or urgent “limited-time offers” are often bait for scams.
If the price seems unrealistic, it’s probably a scam.

Inspect the Ad and Website

Look for signs of a scam, such as blurry images, generic descriptions, or poor grammar.
Verify the URL for legitimacy. Fake websites often have domain names with slight misspellings.

Beware of Sponsored Ads

Social media platforms don’t always verify the authenticity of advertisers. Treat sponsored ads with the same caution as any other ad.
Use a Credit Card for Your Purchases. Credit cards offer better protection against fraud and make it easier to dispute charges if something goes wrong. Avoid using debit cards, as they don’t offer the same safeguards.

How Bitdefender Can Help

Shopping online should be fun and safe, not stressful. Here’s how Bitdefender’s security solutions can help:

Block malicious websites and ads: Protect yourself from fraudulent shopping sites with solutions like Bitdefender Total Security.
Scan suspicious links: Use Bitdefender Scamio, a free tool that detects scammy links and ads, giving you peace of mind when shopping online. Scamio can analyze any texts, messages, links, QR codes, or images and give you a verdict on whether they are part of a scam.

You can also help others stay safe by sharing Scamio with them in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Australia, and the UK