Today, the Financial Technology Association (FTA) kicked off its annual Smarter Than Scams campaign to empower consumers with the tools to recognize and prevent common payment scams during the holiday shopping season. This national education campaign brings together industry leaders PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App to help people spot, avoid, and report scams.

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“This holiday season, we want consumers to be prepared with simple but powerful tools to avoid being scammed,” said Penny Lee, President and CEO of the Financial Technology Association. “Fraudsters count on rushing you, but pausing before you pay, verifying the person, and spreading the word about common scams help keep your money safe. A few smart habits mean you can shop, give, and celebrate with confidence.”

“Protecting our customers drives innovation at PayPal and Venmo. We continue to advance the frontier of scam prevention through industry-leading AI and insights across billions of transactions to recognize patterns, detect anomalies, and identify emerging threats with greater speed, precision, and context to safeguard our customers,” said Aaron J. Webster, Global Chief Risk Officer at PayPal. “As scams increasingly rely on psychological manipulation, fighting fraud requires a whole-of-ecosystem approach that pairs advanced technology and strong protections with empowered consumers who have the information they need to recognize the warning signs of fraud and avoid common scams.”

“Giving more people access to financial tools goes hand in hand with protecting our customers and helping them feel confident using those tools,” said Mary Elizabeth Taylor, Head of Americas Public Policy and Government Relations at Block. “At Cash App, we’re continuing to invest in technology that helps detect suspicious activity, warnings that prompt customers to pause, and education that helps people recognize scams before they send money. We’re also working with industry partners and law enforcement because no company can solve this challenge alone. We’re proud to support Smarter Than Scams as part of that shared commitment to giving people the tools and knowledge to protect their money.”

The majority (89%) of U.S. consumers have experienced some form of fraud or scam, and such incidents tend to spike around the holiday season. Social media and telecom platforms are rising vectors for fraud and scams. According to the Federal Trade Commission, scams that originate from social media platforms, phone calls, and texts accounted for more than half of reported losses in the first half of 2026. A new report from Juniper Research projects that fraud originating on social media and telecom platforms will cost American consumers more than $5.1 billion by 2031, a 65% increase over 2026 levels.

Preparing for the Holiday Season

Common holiday scams include requests for a deposit to secure a gift, fake charity solicitations, demands for payment by gift card, phony invoices, impersonation, and phishing emails that bait consumers into opening a harmful attachment or clicking a link. Some scams use manipulated audio or video, known as deepfakes, to sound or look like someone shoppers may trust.

The Smarter Than Scams campaign urges consumers to stay safe with the following tips:

• Pause Before You Pay – Urgency is a scammer’s favorite tool.
• Verify the Person – If a call, video, or message feels off, hang up or stop responding. Use a verified channel, such as the number on the back of a payment card or customer support in the app, to verify the person.
• Stop and Check – If something feels wrong, stop and check. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Play It Safe – Send money only to people you know and trust, create strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and never share one-time codes or sign-in links.
• Test Your Knowledge – In a new feature launched this year, consumers can test their readiness to spot scams by exploring common scenarios at SmarterThanScams.com.

Taking Action to Fight Fraud

Payment platforms may be downstream from the origins of fraud, but they are taking action to stop scams by:

• Educating consumers through national campaigns and partnering with leading consumer protection organizations to shape industry best practices.
• Partnering with law enforcement to take action against those who target users’ money and personal information.
• Deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor, detect, and prevent suspicious activity in real time, alongside stronger authentication, identity verification, and other advanced tools.
• Enhancing in-house expertise and conducting end-to-end investigations to continually refine fraud prevention capabilities as the threat landscape evolves.

Industry leaders have called for a coordinated national strategy to combat fraud and scams, including embracing digital tools, providing more resources to law enforcement, and improving data sharing between the public and private sectors. For more information on how to stay safe from scams this holiday season, visit SmarterThanScams.com.

ABOUT US

The Financial Technology Association (FTA) is a network of leading fintech companies and digital banks shaping the future of finance. We champion financial innovation and advocate for policies that expand competition, access, and opportunity.

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