6 Holiday Scams Tennessee’s Attorney General Is Warning About
Picking up holiday work this season?
Watch out for fake job offers.
Tennessee’s Attorney General is warning about scams like that as holiday shopping ramps up.
Here are the holiday scams Tennessee’s Attorney General is warning about.
Note: This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Scam tactics and consumer protections are subject to change, so confirm the current details with the Tennessee Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs.
1. Fake Online Stores
A fake online store is a holiday scam that leans on a price you can’t resist.
The Attorney General’s office described the bait in a 2021 holiday scam warning.
Websites, social media advertisements and marketplace postings entice buyers with popular products at bargain prices.
If you pay, the product may never show up, or it may fall short of the ad.
That stings.
A 2023 notice flagged the same trick, warning that scammers can create fake websites and make enticing claims.
In March 2026, it posted another alert, this one about websites advertising vehicles and heavy machinery at extremely low prices.
Before you enter a card number, search the store’s name with words like review, complaint or scam.
2. Fake Customer Service Calls
A holiday scam call about a Black Friday order can sound routine.
The Attorney General’s office warned in 2023 about callers who claim to be from a known retailer such as Amazon or Norton Antivirus.
If one of them asks for your credit card details or access to your computer, end the call.
Then look up the company’s number yourself, or sign in to your account on its website.
The 2021 warning added pop-up messages that give a number or link to get help for a computer problem.
Don’t stay on the line.
Four P Warning Signs
The Tennessee Attorney General’s office lists four warning signs, each starting with a P, in its 2021 holiday warning.
Pretending means the caller or sender claims to be an official-sounding organization, business, utility or charity.
A problem or prize is a made-up debt, grant, family emergency or computer virus.
Pressure means you’re told to act immediately, often with threats of arrest or the loss of a license.
Pay means the scammer insists on a money transfer or a gift card.
3. Gift Card Payment Demands
On Black Friday or any other day, a seller who asks you to pay with a gift card is running a scam.
The Attorney General’s office says government agencies and legitimate businesses don’t ask you to pay with gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfers.
Using Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, the Division of Consumer Affairs put a number on the damage in 2018, when it still sat in the state commerce department.
Tennesseans lost over $943,000 to prepaid gift card scams that year, a 44% increase from 2017.
The division moved to the Attorney General’s office in 2019.
A government agency will never ask you to pay with a prepaid gift card.
And you should never read or text anyone the personal identification number (PIN) on the back of one.
Keep that PIN private.
4. Fake Package Delivery Notices
A holiday scam can pose as a delivery notice, since Black Friday orders mean packages on the way.
The Division of Consumer Affairs warned about the fake version in a 2017 holiday warning.
A phony notice from United Parcel Service (UPS) says you have a package and asks you to fill out an attached form.
That form can ask for personal or financial details.
The same trick appeared in 2016 too.
Check your order with the store you bought from.
Skip the form.
Psst! How much do you know about online shopping scams? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Shopping Scam IQ
Answer these questions on online shopping scams and your rights as a buyer. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Consumers reported losing how much to fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission?
5. Fake Bank Alert Texts
A text about your bank account is hard to ignore during the holiday rush.
In 2017, the Division of Consumer Affairs described the scam as fake messages sent by text alert.
The text says your bank account has been compromised.
It tells you to call a phone number to get it re-activated.
That number leads to scammers who collect your personal and account details.
Don't call back.
Use the number on the back of your card instead.
6. Fake Holiday Job Offers
If you're picking up holiday work at a store, fake job offers are one more scam to watch for.
The Division of Consumer Affairs listed holiday job scams in its 2017 warning.
Be wary of offers that ask for personal information online or charge you for a job lead.
The fix is to apply in person or go to the retailer's main website to see who's hiring.
Never pay for a lead.
Marketplace Deals
If you hunt for Black Friday bargains on Facebook Marketplace, you can run into the scam the Attorney General's office described in a September 2023 alert.
The Marketplace listing was for a nonexistent tractor.
The scam sent buyers to a shipping company that claimed to be based in Memphis.
That company asked buyers for their Social Security number, a picture of their driver's license and a current selfie.
If you can, meet the seller in person and swap the item and the payment at the same time.
Be cautious of any seller who insists on communicating or receiving payment outside the platform's official channels.
Walk away.
Paying Safely and Reporting Fraud
Before a Black Friday order goes through, the Attorney General's office has a payment tip for you.
Credit cards have significant fraud protection.
Avoid wire transfers and bank-to-bank transfers with sellers you don't know.
Pick your payment method carefully.
If a Black Friday order does go wrong, the office takes complaints through its online consumer complaint form at tn.gov/consumer.
Scam victims can also report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center or the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker.
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