Follow the Fraud
Choose your own holiday scam adventure
It’s December 20th. The snow is falling, your shopping list isn’t finished, and the clock is ticking. You’re online, hunting for that perfect last-minute gift, when suddenly…
A pop-up flashes on your screen. Your pulse quickens. Could this be your lucky day, or just another holiday hoax?
Time to choose your path.
You click the link
Of course you click. Who can resist a 70% discount? The page looks mostly legitimate: the logo’s right, the design’s slick, but the URL? “Apple-clearance-deals.shop.” Hmmm… Not sure the guys at Apple would approve.
But feeling proud of your savvy shopping skills, you enter your payment info and moments later, your confirmation email arrives… from: “[email protected].”
Congratulations! You’ve just fallen for a fake e-commerce scam and your credit card details are now in Belarus.
There’s no need to feel ashamed though.
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E-commerce scams are common, learn more.
Fake e-commerce scams are one of the most common holiday frauds as scammers set up convincing online stores or social media ads that mimic real retailers, complete with copied branding, fake reviews, and deep discounts. These sites lure shoppers with “too-good-to-be-true” deals on popular products, collecting credit card details and personal information during checkout before disappearing without delivering anything.
According to some estimates, the value of eCommerce fraud will rise from $44.3 billion in 2024 to $107 billion by 2029; a growth of 141%. So far, 43% of ecommerce consumers have been a victim of this type of fraud – and they often try to claim it back from their banks, costing them billions in reimbursements, reputational damage, and customer trust.
How Alterya detects and blocks scams
Alterya identifies scams and connects its financial identifiers like emails, phone numbers, and web domains across crypto, digital wallets, and traditional bank accounts. That way, financial institutions can detect in real-time which accounts belong to scammers and take the necessary actions required to block, offboard or alert their own customers to them before any funds are transferred.
Want to learn more? Request a demo.
You check the site first
You Google the store name and find warnings on Reddit and the Better Business Bureau. The site’s barely a week old. Scam avoided. Good job!
But no sooner have you convinced yourself that you’re smarter than the scammer…
Your email pings. The message includes a moving story and a QR code to “donate crypto instantly.” What do you do?
Time to choose your path.
You send a donation
You scan the QR code and send a relatively small amount, $25. A good deed for the holidays! Except… the charity doesn’t exist.
You’ve just sent money to the PayPal account of a fast-growing charity scam.
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Tell me more about charity scams
Charity scams also see a surge during the holiday season, when people are feeling generous and looking to give back. Scammers create fake charities or impersonate real ones, often using urgent, emotional appeals in emails, texts, or social media posts. They may ask for donations via credit card, bank transfer, or cryptocurrency, funneling money directly into their own accounts. Because holiday goodwill is high and verification is often overlooked in the rush, these scams exploit generosity, leaving well-intentioned donors out of pocket and sometimes exposing their personal information.
In cases like these, customers will often ask their bank to understand their situation and return the money. They then need to carry out manual and tedious investigations and find ways to resolve the dispute. All this costs time and money. $12.5 billion was refunded to consumers in 2024 alone, 25% more than the year before.
How Alterya provides fiat detection
While part of Chainalysis, Alterya offers comprehensive fraud prevention beyond crypto by looking at fiat footprint for scams like Zelle and PayPal. This allows financial institutions to spot and block scams, and identify money mule accounts across the entire financial ecosystem.
Want to learn more? Request a demo.
You research before giving
You look up the organization. Nothing. No website, no registration, no trace.
You wisely choose to skip it and save your crypto for a real cause.
Nice work, detective.
But before you can pat yourself on the back…
Your X feed buzzes. It’s a post from someone who looks like a well-known influencer in the crypto world and the commenters endorse their offering. The website looks legitimate, too.
The clock’s ticking, and your wallet app is open.
You send the funds
You decide to take a chance. After all, the account is verified-looking, and those comments seem legit. You copy the wallet address, send over a small amount “just to test it,” and refresh your balance every few seconds, waiting for your double-up to arrive.
Minutes pass. Then hours. Then… nothing. The post disappears, the “verified” account vanishes, and so does your crypto.
A classic “double your money” scam. The only thing doubled this season? Your disappointment.
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Learn more about investment scams
Crypto investment scams have surged in 2025, with losses projected to exceed US $12 billion worldwide. The FBI estimates that over US $5.8 billion of that came from investment-style frauds alone, many of them “pig butchering” schemes where scammers build fake relationships before draining victims’ wallets. The rise of AI-driven deepfakes and cloned influencer accounts has made these scams more convincing than ever, and with the average victim losing nearly US $38,000, the stakes are high. It’s a stark reminder that in crypto, even a festive-looking “holiday giveaway” can turn into an expensive lesson in skepticism.
For crypto exchanges, this surge in scams isn’t just a user problem, it’s an ecosystem problem. Every successful fraud erodes customer trust, drives up support and reimbursement costs, and risks regulatory scrutiny. Beyond the immediate financial impact, repeated scam activity can damage an exchange’s reputation and user confidence, the very foundation that keeps their platforms thriving.
How Alterya helps identify scams at inception
Alterya enables financial institutions to combat sophisticated scams, including those using AI deepfakes, by finding patterns across scams. Alterya can spot even new scams that have not yet met the victim, enabling financial institutions to reduce their fraud exposure and support customers.
Want to learn more? Request a demo.
You ignore the offer
You trust your instincts and ignore it. Ten minutes later, your friend calls to say they just received the same message. You warn them in time and for them to say “thanks buddy, I owe you one.”
Way to go, you’ve dodged 3 scams today! But it’s getting tiring having to be on guard all the time, right?
There must be a better way to avoid these scams and stop scammers reaching others too.
Looking for a happily ever after? How Chainalysis Alterya helps you get the ending you want
Chainalysis Alterya offers a powerful way for institutions to take proactive control of their fraud landscape. By using AI-powered detection and machine learning models, it identifies scams and associated financial identifiers like wallets, bank accounts, web domains, email, phone and more.
What separates Alterya’s approach is that it examines activity before it reaches potential victims, as opposed to being trained on victim reports. That means a new investment scam site that is published or fake ads on marketplaces can be identified before funds are lost. Alterya enables banks, RTP providers, and crypto platforms to assess transaction risk in real time and intervene before victims lose their funds.
This means fewer fraud claims and refunds, smoother dispute resolution, and more resilient compliance frameworks, that all translates to stronger user trust and increased revenues.
Book a demo of Chainalysis Alterya to learn more about how you can isolate scammers from your platform and stop them scamming your customers this holiday season.