November 03, 2025
Last December, a mid-sized company's accounts payable clerk received an urgent message allegedly from her "CEO": Purchase $3,000 in Apple gift cards for clients, scratch off the codes, and send them via email. Though suspicious, the request seemed genuine, especially during the hectic holiday period. Unfortunately, by the time she verified it, the scammer had already cashed out, leaving the company to absorb the loss.
While this scam resulted in a painful but manageable loss, others can utterly devastate businesses. The same month, Orion S.A., a chemical manufacturer based in Luxembourg, fell prey to an even more damaging fraud. An employee received what looked like standard email requests for wire transfers—seemingly from trusted colleagues or partners. The urgent and plausible demands matched routine business activities, leading the employee to execute multiple transfers without hesitation.
The outcome? Cybercriminals siphoned off $60 million—over half the company's annual profits—in a string of fraudulent wire transfers.
If you believe your small business isn't on scammers' radar, think again. Gift-card fraud alone cost companies more than $217 million in 2023, and business email compromise (BEC) attacks made up 73% of all cyber incidents in 2024. The holiday season is especially targeted because criminals exploit distracted, stressed teams handling increased transaction volumes.
5 Crucial Holiday Scams Every Employee Must Recognize (Before They Drain Thousands From Your Business)
1. "Urgent Gift Card Requests from Executives" (The $3,000 Text Scam)
- The Scam: Fraudsters impersonate managers or owners, pressuring staff to buy gift cards for "clients" or "employee rewards." In early 2024, gift-card schemes composed 37.9% of all business email compromise incidents.
- How to Prevent: Enforce a strict policy requiring two levels of authorization for gift card purchases. Educate employees that executives will never request gift cards via text messages.
2. Fake Invoice and Payment Modifications (The Large-Scale Money Heist)
- The Scam: Criminals send emails with "updated bank details" or hijack vendor communications near year-end billing. For example, in June 2024, Arlington, MA lost almost $500,000 to this tactic.
- How to Prevent: Always verify banking changes by calling a known number—not the one provided in the email. Implement a "phone call confirmation" rule for all financial changes above $5,000.
3. Fraudulent Shipping and Delivery Alerts
- The Scam: Phishing messages impersonate UPS, FedEx, or USPS with links to "reschedule deliveries," tricking users into malware or credential theft.
- How to Prevent: Train employees to navigate directly to official carrier websites rather than clicking links. Encourage bookmarking genuine tracking pages to avoid phishing traps.
4. Malicious "Holiday Party" Email Attachments
- The Scam: Emails containing attachments titled "Holiday_Schedule.pdf" or "Party_List.xls" often carry malware that activates when opened.
- How to Prevent: Disable macros, scan all attachments thoroughly, and create a culture where unexpected files must be verified before opening.
5. Fake Holiday Fundraising Campaigns
- The Scam: Phishing websites pose as charities or offer fake "company matching" donation schemes to steal money and personal information.
- How to Prevent: Provide an approved list of charities and mandate that all donations go through official company portals.
Why These Scams Succeed (And How to Defend Against Them)
The very tools that streamline business operations - email, online banking, digital payments - are the ones scammers exploit. These attacks aren't crude "Nigerian prince" scams but highly sophisticated blends of social engineering and company-specific intelligence.
Businesses conducting regular phishing simulation training decrease their risk by 60%, yet many small firms don't train employees at all. Multifactor authentication (MFA) can prevent 99% of unauthorized access, but many companies still rely solely on passwords.
Your Essential Holiday Cybersecurity Checklist
To protect your business as the holidays approach, follow these key steps:
- The Two-Person Verification Rule: Require verbal confirmation via separate channels for any transaction exceeding your pre-set limit.
- Gift Card Policy: Enforce a written rule forbidding gift card purchases through email or text.
- Vendor Confirmation: Always verify any banking or payment changes by phone using trusted contact numbers.
- Activate Multifactor Authentication: Protect all email, banking, and cloud accounts with MFA.
- Holiday Scam Awareness: Educate your team about these five prevalent scams using actual case studies.
The True Impact: Beyond Monetary Loss
Even though Orion's $60 million loss grabbed headlines, smaller companies often feel the sting of hidden consequences more intensely:
- Operations grind to a halt during crucial peak seasons.
- Staff productivity plummets as they scramble to resolve issues.
- Customer trust diminishes if sensitive data is exposed.
- Insurance costs can spike substantially after cyber incidents.
The average loss from a single business email compromise is $129,000 - a potentially fatal blow to small businesses at the worst time of year.
Keep Your Holidays Joyful — Not Fraught With Cybercrime
The holiday season should be about growth, teamwork, and celebration—not cleaning up after costly wire fraud. A simple team meeting, clear policies, and several security layers can provide powerful protection to keep cybercriminals away from your finances.
Remember the Orion employee who could have prevented a $60 million loss with just one confirmation call? With the right training and easy verification steps, your business can avoid becoming the next cautionary headline.
Ready to secure your team before the New Year? Click here or call us at 858-202-0304 to arrange a 15-Minute Discovery Call. We'll guide you through straightforward, effective strategies to safeguard your business. Don't let cybercriminals steal your hard-earned holiday success—give your company the ultimate gift of peace of mind this season.
