As the holiday season kicks into full gear, it’s not just retail that ramps up — scams do, too.
New survey data reveals a troubling trend: 67% of Americans say they notice more online scam attempts during the winter holidays.
And in this era of sophisticated phishing, it’s not always easy to spot fakes. Forty percent of consumers admit it’s harder to tell real promotions from fraudulent ones during the holidays.
Phishing is Getting Smarter — and Harder to Spot
Cybercriminals know this is the season of online shopping and digital engagement. That’s why they mimic trusted retailers, leveraging fake promotional emails, lookalike text messages, and scam shopping ads on social media to trick consumers into clicking and paying.
In fact, 1 in 3 Americans report receiving suspicious emails from retailers at least weekly during this time of year.
With inboxes flooded and consumer attention divided, even the savviest users can fall victim to phishing attempts that look incredibly legitimate. So how can shoppers today rely on their inbox to keep their payment profiles safe from these attacks?
The key difference-maker here is trust.
Branded Familiarity Builds Trust and Reduces Risk
When it comes to deciding whether or not to click, 51% of consumers say they’re more likely to trust branded messages that come from a familiar sender name or domain. The data also shows that emails routed through third-party domains erode that trust.
Consumers want to feel confident that the organization contacting them is legitimate, and branded email domains seem to be the quickest way to earn their trust. Otherwise, they are significantly less likely to engage.
The Implications for Service Providers
These insights have profound implications for service providers who rely on digital communications to engage customers and collect payments.
For starters, it’s important to understand just how low consumer trust is nowadays. Your customers have been trained to avoid communications they don’t explicitly recognize as legitimate, and it’s up to you to foster the trust needed for engagement.
The impact of the recognizable email domains should be useful and actionable for service providers. Digital billing and payment solutions that don’t allow you to send messages from your branded domains can confuse consumers and undermine digital adoption rates.
To breakthrough the distrust that today’s cybercrime landscape has created, this is an easy way to foster confidence and keep digital adoption levels high.
InvoiceCloud’s Trust-First Approach
InvoiceCloud solves this trust gap by delivering custom email domains. Our clients benefit from consistent sender names and recognizable URLs that assure customers the communication is legitimate.
This approach doesn’t just boost customer confidence — it leads to better payment outcomes. Fewer ignored emails. Fewer customer support calls asking “Is this real?” And fewer delays in collections due to mistrust or confusion.
Scam Protection Starts with Communication
While security measures like encryption and PCI DSS Level 1 compliance are table stakes, educating customers about seasonal scam trends and reinforcing brand familiarity are just as crucial.
To that end, service providers should prioritize:
- Sending payment notifications from branded domains and email addresses.
- Offering branded self-service portals for increased trust.
- Embedding secure, one-click guest payment links.
- Offering real-time alerts and confirmations that reinforce the sender’s credibility.
- Providing proactive fraud warnings and educational content during scam-heavy seasons.
- Avoid changing language during the holiday season to keep a consistent message.
Consumers want simplicity, speed, and safety. Because in a world where one wrong click can have major consequences, trust isn’t optional — it’s essential.
Want to learn more about how InvoiceCloud keeps bill payments secure, branded, and trusted all year long? Check out our security and compliance standards.