High street banking giant Santander has issued an urgent warning to its customers as criminals target last-minute Christmas shoppers with a dramatic surge in sophisticated online scams.
Festive Fraud Spikes Dramatically
The bank has revealed that reported losses from purchase scams soared by a staggering 75% during the 2024 Christmas period compared to the previous year. This alarming increase was recorded over the key festive dates of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.
In total, £30,722 was reported stolen from Santander customers across those three days in 2024, a sharp rise from £17,552 in 2023. The bank cautions that if this rate of growth continues in 2025, losses could exceed £50,000 over the Christmas holiday window alone.
Fake Bargains and Non-Existent Parcels
Santander's data shows that fraudsters are exploiting the pressure and haste of the festive season. In the fortnight leading up to Christmas last year, the bank recorded nearly 450 individual purchase scams.
These scams typically involve fake advertisements on social media platforms, offering massive, too-good-to-be-true discounts on sought-after gifts. Santander calculates that 3,207 parcels failed to appear under Christmas trees nationwide last year due to these scams affecting its customers.
Chris Ainsley, Head of Fraud Risk Management at Santander UK, explained the vulnerability. "In the days before Christmas, shoppers are at their most vulnerable. As we approach the last shopping weekend, people are stressed, in a rush and desperate for gifts to arrive on time, and scammers know it," he said.
The AI-Powered Threat to Shoppers
Experts warn that the scale of the increase points to the growing sophistication of fraud, now supercharged by artificial intelligence. Colette Mason, an AI Consultant at London-based Clever Clogs AI, stated that modern scams are virtually indistinguishable from legitimate retail.
"We're not talking about dodgy emails with typos anymore," she said. "We're talking about fully cloned sites that pass every credibility check, personalised emails that sound exactly like your favourite retailer, and fake product pages that mirror legitimate ones pixel-perfect."
Mason offered a key piece of practical advice: "Don't click email links ever. Type the website URL manually."
Rohit Parmar-Mistry, Founder of Pattrn Data in Burton-on-Trent, argued that current safeguards are failing. "Santander is right to raise the alarm, but telling people to 'be careful' while scammers run wild on social media is like putting a plaster on a gaping wound," he commented.
The Human Cost of Festive Fraud
Behind the stark statistics lies a significant human toll, often overlooked. Patricia McGirr, founder of the Burnley-based Repossession Rescue Network, highlighted the impact on families.
"These aren't careless shoppers, they're hardworking families desperately trying to do right by their kids," McGirr emphasised. "The real tragedy isn't just the stolen money... it's the shame, the guilt, and the stress of trying to explain to your children why Christmas didn't arrive."
Santander is urging all shoppers to exercise extreme caution, double-check sellers, and be wary of deals that appear unrealistically generous, especially in the final frantic days before Christmas.
