The 12 scams of Christmas to watch out for: From sites selling fake cashmere, knock-off beauty advent calendars and Cadbury 'free gift' cons
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Britons are having to be more alert than ever this Christmas as criminals target them with a series of scams from fake fashion sites to Cadbury 'free gift' cons. Consumers have also been warned about knock-off beauty advent calendars, dodgy phone calls from 'bank fraud departments' and phishing emails.
![[Customers have also hit out at Thompson-Oxford.com for selling alleged knock-off cashmere clothes, in what shoppers have dubbed a 'scam']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/07/93267671-14209047-Customers_have_also_hit_out_at_Thompson_Oxford_com_for_selling_a-a-2_1734594785649.jpg)
Action Fraud has now highlighted 12 main types of fraud which resulted in victims losing a combined total of £224million during the 2023 festive period. The scams have been listed as phishing; pet fraud; online shopping fraud; social media and email account hacking; courier fraud; romance fraud; gift card fraud; charity fraud; investment fraud; QR code fraud; holiday fraud; and ticket fraud.
![[A fake Cadbury website with a suspicious Russian URL asks you to complete a quiz in order to win a giveaway]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/07/93232419-14209047-A_fake_Cadbury_website_with_a_suspicious_Russian_URL_asks_you_to-a-3_1734595139978.jpg)
It comes after three million phishing emails were reported to the Government's Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) from November 2023 to January 2024. And a new report by the Payment Systems Regulator has warned more than half of scams now involve Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp as fraudsters successfully exploit social media platforms, phone networks and email to target victims.
![[After you answer the questions, you are prompted to send the link to 20 friends and enter your personal address]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/07/93232425-14209047-After_you_answer_the_questions_you_are_prompted_to_send_the_link-a-4_1734595142843.jpg)
Here, MailOnline looks at 12 scams consumers should watch out for this year:. Bogus online fashion sites are 'scamming' furious customers with knock-off products after enticing them in with huge Christmas discounts. Dozens of people shopping for last-minute festive gifts for loved ones claim to have been 'ripped off' by two websites flogging fake 'cashmere' clothes.
![[Space NK's annual advent calendar has been highly sought after because it has a retail value of £1,200, but costs £250]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/08/91647747-14209047-Space_NK_s_annual_advent_calendar_is_always_highly_sought_after_-a-7_1734595915102.jpg)
