McAfee Labs has released its latest findings on the most impersonated brands during the 2025 holiday shopping season, revealing how cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to create highly convincing fake websites, emails, and social media ads. The goal is to exploit the surge in online shopping by mimicking trusted retailers and tricking consumers into revealing personal or financial information. Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at McAfee, noted that AI has significantly increased the speed and accuracy with which scammers can replicate real brands. “Scammers are now using AI to create some of the most believable social-engineering attacks we’ve ever seen,” he said. “The best defense is to slow down, verify what you see, and use tools that can detect suspicious links before they cause harm.” The research, based on real-world web activity from October to November 2025, shows a 10% increase in scam URLs and emails impersonating major brands. A separate consumer survey of 8,600 adults across seven countries found that 57% of Americans are more concerned about AI-powered scams this year than last, and 40% have abandoned a purchase due to suspicion. Top 5 Most Impersonated Luxury Brands 1. Coach – Accounts for nearly 45% more scam URLs than the next most targeted brand, Dior 2. Dior 3. Ralph Lauren 4. Rolex 5. Gucci Luxury brand scams are highly concentrated, with Coach leading the list. These fake sites often copy product images, store layouts, customer service language, and holiday sale graphics to appear authentic. Top 5 Most Impersonated Mainstream Consumer Brands 1. Apple – Highest volume of scam URLs among all brands analyzed 2. Nintendo – Driven by high demand for the Switch 2 3. Samsung – Primarily tied to fake phone and accessory deals 4. Disney – Mostly fake Disney+ subscriptions and account alerts 5. Steam – Scams involving gift cards and the growing popularity of the Steam Deck McAfee warns that holiday excitement is creating fertile ground for deception. Many shoppers encounter fake delivery notifications, counterfeit products, and misleading deals that appear nearly identical to legitimate ones. Despite confidence in their ability to spot scams—38% of consumers believe they can identify fakes—22% admitted to falling for a scam during a past holiday season. To stay safe, McAfee offers the following tips: - Pause before clicking. If a message arrives via text, email, or direct message, go directly to the official brand site instead of following the link. - Stick to trusted retailers. Avoid deals that seem too good to be true or come from unfamiliar brands. - Use AI-powered protection tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector, which identifies and blocks suspicious links in real time. - Watch for red flags: urgent language, requests for payment via gift cards or wire transfers, demands for personal information, or pressure to stay on the line. - Secure your accounts with two-factor authentication, strong unique passwords, and by only shopping on secure websites (look for “https://” and the padlock icon). Regularly monitor bank and credit card statements for unauthorized charges. McAfee’s analysis relied on telemetry data from web traffic during the peak holiday period, tracking scam-related hits across branded URLs. The consumer survey was conducted online in August 2025 and weighted to reflect U.S. demographics. McAfee Corp. remains a global leader in consumer cybersecurity, providing adaptive, user-friendly tools to protect individuals and families in an increasingly connected world.