The Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) is a small office within the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Domestic Finance (Financial Institutions). It leads Treasury’s work on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure for the financial system, including acting as the federal Sector Risk Management Agency for the financial services sector. In practice, OCCIP coordinates with banks, payment companies, regulators, and other government agencies to identify cyber and operational risks, share threat information, plan for incidents, and issue guidance (like the holiday scams advisory) to help keep the financial system and consumers safe.
Treasury highlights three major holiday scams this season: • Business impersonation and fake online stores: Scammers spoof well‑known brands, retailers, or delivery companies in emails, texts, and social‑media ads, luring people to look‑alike websites that steal passwords or card numbers or take payment for goods that never arrive. • Charity and donation scams: Fraudsters create fake or copycat charities with convincing websites, emails, and crowdfunding pages, then pressure people to “donate” quickly (often via gift cards, wire transfer, or crypto) so the money never reaches a real cause. • Gift card draining: Criminals tamper with cards on store racks (recording the numbers/PINs) and then automatically drain the balance online as soon as an unsuspecting shopper buys and activates the card.
Scammers are using AI to make fraud more believable and scalable, including: • AI voice cloning for “imposter” calls: They clone a loved one’s or official’s voice from online audio, then call claiming an emergency and urgently demand money or sensitive information. • AI‑generated phishing and fake sites: Tools that write fluent text and generate images or deepfake videos are used to create realistic emails, ads, customer‑service chats, and websites that closely mimic real companies or charities. • Automated, personalized outreach: AI lets criminals send huge volumes of messages that are tailored with your name, interests, or recent purchases, making them much harder to spot as mass scams. Treasury warns this makes seasonal scams more convincing and harder to detect, so extra verification is critical.
Reporting to the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov): • Go to https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/, choose the type of scam, and fill in details (what happened, how you paid, amounts, and any info about the scammer). You don’t need a lawyer and it’s free. • Your report goes into the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, which is shared with thousands of federal, state, and local law‑enforcement agencies. The FTC typically can’t resolve individual cases, but it uses these reports to investigate scams, bring enforcement actions, and sometimes send refunds when money is recovered.
Reporting to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): • Go to https://complaint.ic3.gov/, click “File a Complaint,” and provide your contact details, how you were contacted, payment information, and any evidence (screenshots, emails, account numbers). • IC3 analysts review complaints and route them to the appropriate FBI field office or other law‑enforcement agencies for investigation. You get a complaint number; you may be contacted if investigators need more information, but you won’t usually get case‑by‑case updates. In all cases, you should also immediately notify your bank/card issuer or platform used for payment, because they are the ones who can try to stop or reverse transactions.
If you suspect a scam or know you lost money, act quickly:
Cut off contact and document it • Stop responding to emails, calls, texts, or DMs. Don’t click more links or send more money. • Take screenshots and save emails, receipts, transaction IDs, and card or account details you used.
Secure your accounts and devices • Change passwords on email, banking, and shopping accounts; turn on multi‑factor authentication. • Check recent transactions and set up alerts so you see any new charges right away.
Contact the payment provider immediately • Credit/debit card or bank: Call the number on the back of your card or your bank’s fraud line, report the unauthorized charge, and ask them to reverse the transaction and issue a new card. • Wire transfer or bank transfer: Contact your bank at once and ask if they can recall or freeze the transfer. • Gift card: Contact the card issuer (from the back of the card) as soon as possible, report it as a scam, and ask if they can freeze or restore the balance. • Payment apps or crypto: Report the fraud through the app/exchange and ask if they can block the recipient or reverse the transfer (recovery is often difficult, so speed matters).
Protect your identity if you shared personal data • If you gave your Social Security number or other key data, consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with the credit bureaus and monitor your credit reports.
Report it • File a report with the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ and with the FBI’s IC3 at https://complaint.ic3.gov/; this helps law enforcement track patterns and may support future recovery or enforcement.
You can download the full advisory directly from Treasury at: • “Cyber‑Safe Holidays: Recognizing and Avoiding Seasonal Scams” (PDF): https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Treasury%20OCCIP%20Holiday%20Advisory%20-%20Cyber%20Safe%20Holidays%20Recognizing%20and%20Avoiding%20Seasonal%20Scams.pdf It’s also linked on the press‑release page about the advisory. The PDF is written for consumers and organized into short sections with bullet‑point tips (for example: validate charities, verify messages and transactions, use safer payment methods, strengthen account security, and report fraud quickly). These bullet lists function as simple step‑by‑step checklists you can follow, though they’re not interactive forms.