{"id":219817,"date":"2026-08-25T08:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?p=219817"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T02:35:37","slug":"scammers-take-advantage-of-back-to-school-shopping-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/scammers-take-advantage-of-back-to-school-shopping-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers Take Advantage of Back-to-School Shopping Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Scammers didn\u2019t take a summer break. They kept busy, ramping up a fresh wave of back-to-school shopping scams. As busy families rush to get kitted out for a new school year, scammers are ready with a glut of phony shopping sites, bogus offers, and fake delivery notifications designed to steal your money and personal info. Let\u2019s get a rundown of what scams are out there this year and how you can avoid them.<\/p>\n<h2>What back-to-school shopping scams are out there?<\/h2>\n<p>Scammers look to cash in on all the spending that tends to peak in July and August. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nrf.com\/media-center\/press-releases\/back-to-school-season-begins-early-for-majority-of-shoppers\">National Retail Federation<\/a>, <strong>the average U.S. family spends nearly $860 per child to prep them for school<\/strong>\u2014which includes supplies, clothing, and shoes for the new school year. So, like any time of year where a holiday or seasonal event drives a spike in online shopping, we see a rise in scam shopping sites.<\/p>\n<p>Scammers put fake back-to-school deals in front of shoppers in many of the same places legitimate retailers advertise: <strong>sponsored search results, emails, text messages, and social media ads<\/strong>. A steep discount on a laptop, backpack, or pair of sneakers might look like a great deal \u2014 but sometimes the store, product, or promotion isn\u2019t real.<\/p>\n<h3>Common Back-to-School Shopping Scams<\/h3>\n<p>Here are several scams families may encounter while shopping for the new school year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fake online stores.<\/strong> These sites can look like legitimate retailers and advertise school supplies, clothing, electronics, and other popular items at unusually low prices. You pay, but <strong>the product never arrives<\/strong>. Depending on how the scam operates, criminals may also collect payment or personal information entered during checkout.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counterfeit and knockoff products.<\/strong> Some questionable stores actually ship an item, but <strong>it isn\u2019t what was advertised<\/strong>. Shoppers might receive cheaply made or counterfeit versions of name-brand backpacks, shoes, clothing, headphones, and other popular products.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Too-good-to-be-true electronics deals.<\/strong> Laptops, tablets, smartphones, and headphones can put a big dent in a back-to-school budget, which makes deep discounts especially tempting. Scammers may advertise <strong>expensive electronics at bargain-basement prices<\/strong> to steer shoppers toward fake stores or fraudulent listings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fake giveaways and shopping sprees.<\/strong> \u201cWin $500 for school supplies\u201d or \u201cClaim your free laptop\u201d promotions can be designed to collect <strong>email addresses, passwords, payment details, or other personal information<\/strong> rather than award a real prize.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Misleading social media ads.<\/strong> Scammers can use polished ads, familiar brand imagery, and steep discounts to make a questionable store look legitimate. Clicking the ad may take shoppers to <strong>a fake website designed to imitate a real retailer or brand<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The Warning Sign: A Deal That Creates Urgency<\/h3>\n<p>Back-to-school shopping already comes with a deadline, and scammers can use that pressure to their advantage. Watch for phrases such as <strong>\u201ctoday only,\u201d \u201calmost sold out,\u201d \u201c90% off,\u201d or \u201cclaim your free gift now.\u201d<\/strong> They\u2019re designed to get you to act before you have time to check whether the offer is legitimate.<\/p>\n<p>Before buying, <strong>slow down and take a closer look at the seller, website address, price, and payment options<\/strong>. If an unfamiliar retailer is offering a popular $800 laptop for $199, that\u2019s a good reason to investigate before reaching for your wallet.<\/p>\n<h2>How Are Scammers Using Social Media for Back-to-School Scams?<\/h2>\n<p>Social media is a natural place to look for <strong>back-to-school deals, product recommendations, and discount codes<\/strong>. Scammers know that, too.<\/p>\n<p>Fake and misleading ads can appear alongside legitimate promotions in social feeds. They might advertise <strong>deep discounts on laptops, trendy sneakers, backpacks, school supplies, or even \u201cfree\u201d back-to-school giveaways<\/strong>. Some may use familiar brand names, polished product images, and professional-looking copy to appear legitimate.<\/p>\n<p>AI tools can also make it easier to quickly create convincing ad copy, images, and other content. But no matter how polished the ad looks, the underlying scam often follows a familiar pattern:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>You see an eye-catching deal.<\/strong> An ad promotes a popular back-to-school item at a steep discount or creates urgency with a limited-time offer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You click through to a convincing website.<\/strong> The site might imitate a familiar retailer or look like a legitimate online store, complete with product photos, reviews, and professional branding.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The site asks for personal or payment information.<\/strong> You might enter your name, address, email, password, or credit card details to make a purchase or claim an offer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The scammer gets what they came for.<\/strong> The product may never arrive, you might receive a cheap counterfeit, or the information you provided could be misused.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Don\u2019t Let a Polished Ad Create False Trust<\/h3>\n<p><strong>An ad appearing in your social media feed doesn\u2019t automatically mean the seller is legitimate.<\/strong> Before buying from an unfamiliar retailer, search for the company independently rather than relying on the link in the ad. Check the website address carefully, look for credible reviews, and be especially cautious when a deal seems far cheaper than you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n<p>When back-to-school budgets are already stretched, a big discount can be hard to pass up. <strong>That\u2019s exactly why it pays to check the seller before you click \u201cbuy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Three ways you can avoid back-to-school shopping scams.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>1) Look up retailers you\u2019re not familiar with.<\/strong> When you\u2019re shopping online and come across a retailer you haven\u2019t seen before, do some quick research on the company. How long have they been around? Have any complaints been recorded by your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerresources.org\/file-a-complaint\/\">attorney general<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usa.gov\/local-governments\">local consumer protection agency<\/a>? Also a quick search of \u201c[company name] scam\u201d can help. You might come across posts and reports about a scam related to that company. One extra resource comes courtesy of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbb.org\/search\">BBB.org<\/a>. There you can look up a company, verify its info, and see a list of any complaints against it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>2) When shopping, pay with a credit card instead of your debit card. <\/strong>In the U.S., the Fair Credit Billing Act offers the public protection against fraudulent charges on credit cards. Citizens can dispute charges of over $50 for goods and services that were never delivered or otherwise billed incorrectly. (Note that many credit card companies have their own policies that improve upon the Fair Credit Billing Act as well.) However, debit cards don\u2019t get the same protection under the act. Avoid using a debit card while shopping online and use your credit card for extra assurance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>3) Get a scam detector to spot bogus links and offers for you. <\/strong>Even with these tips and tools, spotting bogus links with the naked eye can get tricky. Some look \u201cclose enough\u201d to a legitimate link that you might overlook it. Yet a combination of features in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/en-us\/identity-theft\/protection.html?source=blogs\">McAfee+ plans<\/a> can help do that work for you. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/en-us\/scam-detector?path=blogs\">Our Scam Detector<\/a> helps you stay safer with advanced scam detection technology built to spot and stop scams across text messages, emails, and videos. Likewise, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/learn\/web-protection?path=blogs\">Web Protection<\/a> will alert you if a link might take you to a sketchy site. It\u2019ll also block those sites if you accidentally tap or click on a bad link.<\/p>\n<h2>Also watch out for phony delivery message scams during back-to-school season.<\/h2>\n<p>Another popular scammer ploy involves shipping notifications.<\/p>\n<p>Scammers know that with lots of online shopping comes a lot of online shipping notifications. They send phony delivery messages by the thousands, all with the aim of catching a few victims who have real packages on the way.<\/p>\n<p>They pose as legitimate shippers and retailers, do their best to look and sound like them, and use urgency to get people to act.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cYour package can\u2019t be delivered. Please click this link within the next 24 hours to get your shipment.\u201d<\/strong> And so on.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, those links lead to phishing and malware sites. In others, the notification contains an attachment that installs malware if clicked.<\/p>\n<p>With these scams in the mix, here\u2019s how you can stay safe:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>1) Don\u2019t tap on links in text messages:\u202f<\/strong>If you follow one piece of advice, it\u2019s this. Companies use their standard addresses and phone numbers to contact customers. Follow up on their websites to see what they are. The\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uspis.gov\/news\/scam-article\/smishing-package-tracking-text-scams\">USPS<\/a>,\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ups.com\/us\/en\/support\/shipping-support\/legal-terms-conditions\/fight-fraud\">UPS<\/a>,\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fedex.com\/en-us\/report-fraud.html\">FedEx<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/help\/customer\/display.html?nodeId=G4YFYCCNUSENA23B\">\u202fAmazon<\/a>\u202feach have pages dedicated to sharing that info.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>2) Confirm\u202fdirectly:<\/strong>\u202fIf you have concerns, get in touch with the company you think might have sent it. Manually type in their website and enquire there. Again, don\u2019t click or tap any links.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>3) Use the shipping company\u2019s or retailer\u2019s app:<\/strong>\u202fthe USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon all have legitimate apps available in Apple\u2019s App Store and Google Play. You can also count on those to track packages and verify info about your shipments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scammers didn\u2019t take a summer break. They kept busy, ramping up a fresh wave of back-to-school shopping scams. As busy&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":674,"featured_media":219919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10661,1838,12],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3973],"class_list":["post-219817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-security","category-mobile-security","category-family-safety"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Scammers Take Advantage of Back-to-School Shopping Scams | McAfee Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scammers didn\u2019t take a summer break. They kept busy, ramping up a fresh wave of back-to-school shopping scams. 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