Pew Research

1 in 3 Americans Hit by an Online Shopping Scam – Here’s How to Stay Safe If you’ve ever clicked on a too-good-to-be-true deal and ended up with nothing but a lost payment, you’re far from alone. According to a November 2025 Pew Research Center survey, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33 percent of U.S. adults — a reminder that fraudulent sellers and fake storefronts have become a routine part of the digital marketplace. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Experienced an Online Shopping Scam: Here’s How to Stay Safe If you’ve ever clicked a too-good-to-be-true deal and ended up with nothing to show for it, you’re far from alone. A new Pew Research Center report, published in late November 2025, found that about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s roughly 33% of U.S. adults – and the numbers are even higher for younger shoppers. ...

Online Shopping Scams Hit a Third of Americans: How to Protect Yourself The holidays are prime time for hunting bargains online. But new data from the Pew Research Center should give any shopper pause: about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. With more people turning to social media, payment apps, and unfamiliar sellers for deals, the risk isn’t going away. Here’s what’s happening and how to shop smarter. ...

Think You’re Safe Shopping Online? New Pew Data Says 1 in 3 Americans Have Been Scammed If you’ve ever clicked “Buy Now” on a social media ad or sent money via Venmo for a secondhand item, you’re not alone—but you’re also part of a worrying trend. According to a new Pew Research Center report published in November 2025, about one in three U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That number is a sharp reminder that fraud is no longer a fringe problem; it’s hitting millions of ordinary shoppers. This article walks through what the data tells us, why certain platforms and habits increase your risk, and how you can shop smarter without giving up convenience. ...

1 in 3 Americans Have Been Hit by an Online Shopping Scam – Here’s How to Avoid Being Next Online shopping has become so routine that it’s easy to forget how quickly things can go wrong. A new study from the Pew Research Center, published in November 2025, puts a number on that risk: about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s not a small fringe problem—it’s a widespread issue affecting millions of consumers. ...

1 in 3 Americans Have Faced an Online Shopping Scam: How to Protect Yourself If you’ve ever clicked “Buy Now” on a site that looked a little off, or sent money via a payment app for an item that never arrived, you’re far from alone. A new study from the Pew Research Center, released in late 2025, found that about a third of U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. With holiday shopping reaching its peak, that number is likely to climb. Here’s what the data shows and, more importantly, what you can do to keep your money safe. ...

One in Three Americans Hit by Online Shopping Scams: How to Stay Safe According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, roughly one in three U.S. adults say they have been the victim of an online shopping scam. That number may sound high, but anyone who regularly shops online—especially through social media or unfamiliar websites—knows how easy it is to get burned. As holiday shopping ramps up and social commerce continues to grow, understanding the landscape of these scams and knowing how to defend against them is more important than ever. ...

1 in 3 Americans Hit by Online Shopping Scams: How to Spot and Avoid Them If you shop online, you’ve probably seen a deal that seemed too good to pass up—a designer handbag for $30, a new smartphone at half the retail price, or a “limited time” flash sale from a brand you’ve never heard of. According to new data from the Pew Research Center, roughly one out of every three U.S. adults has fallen for a scam like that, or at least had one attempted on them. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Hit by an Online Shopping Scam – Here’s What to Watch For If you’ve ever clicked a too-good-to-be-true ad on social media or received a suspicious text about a delayed package, you’re not alone. New data from the Pew Research Center shows that roughly one in three U.S. adults — 32 percent — say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That figure is a reminder that fraud isn’t something that only happens to careless shoppers; it’s widespread enough that most of us know someone it has affected. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Been Scammed While Shopping Online — Are You Next? A new survey from the Pew Research Center, released in November 2025, puts a number on something many of us have suspected: online shopping scams are not rare. According to the data, about 31 percent of U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That’s nearly one in three people. ...