Holiday Shopping Scams and How to Verify Extra Fees

Open the retailer’s official app or go to its website directly. Skip any links, QR codes, or attachments in the message. Look for an order hold, cancellation, or balance in your account. If you checked out as a guest, find your order number in the confirmation email. Give it to support using the contact details on the retailer’s site.

If the message claims you owe a delivery fee, find the tracking number in your original shipping notice. Enter it on the carrier’s official site or app. A matching number can help you find the shipment. Ask the carrier whether it issued the fee.

Ask support how much you owe, why the fee was added, and who should receive the money. If support confirms the fee, use the payment method it gives you through the official channel. If support cannot confirm it, leave it unpaid while you check.

For a marketplace order, contact the platform through your account. Its buyer protections may exclude payments outside its checkout system.

Black Friday scams and Cyber Monday scams often rely on urgency. A message may threaten to cancel your discount or delay a gift. Be wary of requests to pay an individual, wire money, or buy a gift card. This matters especially when your account already shows the order as paid.

Use records you already have or can reach through official channels. If you already saved a screenshot of a suspected copycat site, keep the web address visible. Leave the site closed while you gather the other records.

• Ad or store screenshot. Compare the web address with the retailer’s official site. If the ad claimed the seller was an authorized reseller, ask the brand to confirm.
• Order confirmation and original receipt. Match the order number to the one in the new message. Check what the first payment covered.
• Fee message and payment instructions. Compare them with your account history and the reply from official support. Look for differences in the amount, reason, or recipient.
• Receipt for the second payment, if you paid. Check the amount, date, recipient, and transaction reference against your bank or payment app record.

Save the full thread with the sender details and timestamps. Keep the support reply or case number with it. If you spoke by phone, note when you called and what support could confirm.

For evidence preservation, keep the original files intact. If you need to hide account details before sharing a record, edit a copy.

For a late shipment, compare the promised ship date with carrier scans and any revised date the seller gave you. For a return, check the policy that applied at checkout. Save any return approval or refund reference.

Start with the retailer or platform if the problem is a late delivery, refused return, or missing refund. A payment dispute may also be available, depending on the issue and how you paid.

California Penal Code § 484 covers theft by false pretense. For a completed theft under this rule, prosecutors must show that someone deliberately deceived the buyer to get the buyer’s money or property. They must also show that the buyer handed it over because they believed the false claim. A missed delivery date or refused refund alone does not establish that intent.

If you paid the extra fee, save the message that led you to pay. Keep any written reply in which the retailer says it never issued the charge. Together, those records show what the sender claimed and what the retailer told you.

Notify the retailer or marketplace so it can review the message or sender account. You can file a state consumer complaint with the California Attorney General’s Office. Federal reporting options include the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Save any report number with your payment records. Follow the payment provider’s dispute process separately.

If you lost money or still cannot tell who received it, a fraud victim attorney can review the fee message, the retailer’s reply, and the payment record. Ask about reporting the incident and what options may be available to recover the money.