By Rebecca Leppert
Pew Research Center

During the holiday gift-giving season, many Americans are wary of online scams. 

The vast majority of U.S. adults (85%) say online scams and attacks are a problem on shopping sites and apps, according to a Pew Research Center survey. This includes 50% who say they’re a major problem.

Sizable shares also say they have personally experienced such scams. Overall, 36% of U.S. adults say they’ve bought an item online that either never arrived (31%) or was counterfeit (17%) and was not refunded. And 12% of Americans say they experienced at least one of these issues within the past year.

Of the six types of online scams and attacks asked about in the survey, online shopping incidents were among the most common.

The vast majority of Americans (92%) say they buy things online. Some demographic groups are more likely than others to say they’ve experienced e-commerce scams while shopping online:

  • Americans under 30 (42%) are much more likely than those ages 65 and older (26%) to say they’ve bought something online that was counterfeit or never delivered and they weren’t reimbursed.
  • Hispanic (43%) and Black adults (41%) are more likely than White adults (33%) to say they’ve experienced at least one of these online shopping scams. Roughly a third of Asian adults (35%) say the same.

Men and women are about equally likely to say they have fallen victim to e-commerce scams. And experiences differ little by education level: Adults with some college experience or less education are only slightly more likely than college graduates to say they’ve experienced at least one of these online shopping scams (38% compared with 34%).

Over 387,000 reports of fraud involving online shopping were filed in the United States in 2024, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. That figure was up from the previous two years but down from nearly 463,000 in 2021.

The FTC uses a broader definition than the survey, describing online shopping fraud as reports of “undisclosed costs, failure to deliver on time, non-delivery and refusal to honor a guarantee on purchases made online, and internet auctions.” Its data is based on direct consumer reports and those filed through other organizations, as well as with federal, state, local and international law enforcement agencies.

Online shopping fraud was responsible for a reported $434.4 million in 2024, with victims facing a median loss of $130. That’s up from 2021, when reported losses totaled $394.3 million, though consumers’ median loss was higher that year ($150).

The real figures may be even higher, however, since scams – like many other types of crime – often go unreported. In fact, 74% of adults who say they’ve lost money due to an online scam or attack, shopping-related or otherwise, said in the survey that they did not report the incident to law enforcement.

Pictured at top: Photo via Adobe Stock.