New insights reveal how scammers copy trusted brands during peak shopping season and what every shopper can do to stay one step ahead.
Key Findings
- Tech tops the Cybergrinch list: Scammers are most frequently impersonating major tech brands, especially those tied to popular devices and gaming platforms, like Apple, Nintendo, Samsung, Disney, and Steam. Apple is the number one brand cybercriminals pretend to be, often creating convincing fake websites that look like real Apple pages.
- Luxury brands are a prime target: Counterfeit storefronts for handbags, sneakers, and limited-edition drops — for example, Coach, Dior, Gucci, Rolex, and Ralph Lauren — surged 45%, with cybercriminals mimicking brand visuals and holiday promo language.
- Shopping scams are rising before the season even starts: 91% of Americans say they’re seeing ads from unfamiliar retailers, exposing them to more scam URLs and lookalike sites. That risk is already visible: scam-related URLs climbed about 10% from early October to early November as criminals ramped up activity across major shopping categories ahead of Black Friday and the holiday rush.
McAfee today announced the results of the latest research from McAfee Labs, revealing the brands scammers are impersonating the most this holiday season and how convincingly they’re copying the brands of trusted retailers to create lookalike online storefronts, fake email alerts, and misleading social ads. The goal of these scammers is to trick shoppers during the busiest buying season of the year — and McAfee’s goal is to help keep people safer and make them feel more confident while buying gifts for loved ones.
Shopping today happens quickly, on phones, between tasks and across social feeds. This speed gives realistic fakes more room to slip through. Knowing which brands scammers impersonate most helps people slow down, spot red flags and stay safer. McAfee Labs has also observed a sharp rise in malicious activity tied to major shopping moments, including 10% increases in scam URLs and emails impersonating popular brands.
“Scammers have always taken advantage of the holiday rush to exploit people looking for deals, but AI has made it easier for them to copy trusted brands with speed and accuracy that is hard to spot,” said Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at McAfee. “From imposter websites and fake products to convincing emails and texts designed to pull people in, scammers today are using AI to create some of the most believable social-engineering tricks we’ve ever seen. The best protection is to slow down, verify what you see and use tools that can flag suspicious links or pages before they do harm.”
The Most Impersonated Brands of 2025
This year’s most impersonated brands align with what people frequently shop for during the holidays — popular tech, luxury gifts and high-demand, limited-edition items. Cybercriminals focus on trusted names and rely on realistic visuals and messaging that match what shoppers expect to see. Fake versions of these sites often include copied product photos, similar layouts, realistic customer-service language and holiday sale graphics designed to push shoppers toward entering payment information.
Top 5 most impersonated luxury brands
- Coach
- Dior
- Ralph Lauren
- Rolex
- Gucci
Luxury brand impersonation scams are heavily concentrated among just a few names, with Coach leading by a wide margin. Coach accounts for roughly 45% more scam-related URLs than the next most impersonated luxury brand, Dior.
Top 5 most impersonated mainstream consumer brands
- Apple
- Nintendo
- Samsung
- Disney
- Steam
Apple stands out within the most impersonated mainstream consumer brands with the highest volume of URL scams of any brand analyzed. Nintendo follows closely, driven largely by the massive demand for the Switch 2 during the 2025 holiday season. Samsung impersonations are primarily tied to scams involving phones and accessories, while Disney scams stem mostly from fake Disney+ streaming offers and account alerts. Steam also appears frequently in scam URLs, with fraud tied to Steam gift cards used for PC gaming and the rising popularity of the Steam Deck, now considered the most widely used handheld PC for gamers.
Holiday Deals Are Up. So Is Brand Impersonation.
Holiday excitement is high, but so is the level of deception. More shoppers are encountering realistic fakes that look like the real deal, from counterfeit storefronts to fake delivery updates. Many shoppers now run into realistic-looking fakes tied to well-known brands, from counterfeit storefronts to fake order alerts. Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they’re more worried about AI-generated scams this year than last, and 40% have abandoned a purchase because something didn’t feel right.
Confidence can be misleading. Thirty-eight percent of consumers believe they can spot a scam, yet 22% admit they’ve fallen for one during a past holiday season. People are shopping, but many are double-checking what shows up in their feeds and inboxes, turning holiday cheer into a season of digital caution.
McAfee’s Tips for a Scam-Free Season
- Pause before you click. If you get a text, DM, or email about a deal, go directly to the retailer’s site or app instead.
- Stick to trusted retailers. If the deal feels rushed or the brand looks unfamiliar, it’s safer to skip it.
- Use AI-powered scam protection. Use trusted tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector, available in all core plans, that spot and flag suspicious links and scams before they can do harm.
- Watch for red flags. If a message pressures you to act fast, demands payment through gift cards or wire transfers, asks for personal info, or insists you stay on the line or keep quiet – hit pause. These are classic scam signals. Taking a moment to think can be the difference between scoring a deal and walking into disaster.
- Protect your shopping experience. Turn on two-factor authentication for extra account protection, use strong, unique passwords, shop only on secure websites (look for “https://” and the padlock icon), monitor your bank and credit card statements for unusual charges.
Methodology
McAfee Labs
McAfee’s analysis of holiday shopping scams is based on real-world web activity from October to November 2025, focusing on luxury brand and mainstream consumer product impersonation. McAfee Labs researchers identified malicious and suspicious URLs by querying a curated list of brand keywords, formatted to match typical web addresses, against McAfee’s web reputation telemetry. Each time a user attempted to visit a flagged site, it was counted as a scam hit; repeated attempts are inclusive. Results are presented as the percentage of scam-related hits over total web traffic for the period, offering a clear snapshot of the risks shoppers face online, regardless of their customer status.
Consumer Research
A McAfee survey focused on scams and online shopping behavior was conducted online in August 2025. It included responses from 8,600 adults in Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the U.S. U.S. results were weighted to ensure national representation.
About McAfee
McAfee Corp. is a global leader in online protection for consumers. Focused on protecting people in an always-online world, McAfee’s solutions adapt to user needs, empowering individuals and families with secure, intuitive tools. For more information, visit www.mcafee.com.
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AI has made it easier for scammers to copy trusted brands with speed and accuracy that is hard to spot. The best protection is to slow down, verify what you see and use tools that can flag suspicious links or pages before they do harm.