SPF isn’t the only protection you need this summer. Norton, a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety and part of Gen have launched Scam Free Summer to help people spot and stop the scams that spike in in the summer months. The forecast shines light on the moments scammers tend to show up most. Norton’s 2026 Summer Scam Forecast shares the 10 scam types projected to be most active this summer, grounded in a Norton analysis of millions of scam attacks blocked by Norton in 2024 and 2025 and cross-referenced against emerging threat patterns from spring 2026. “Scammers follow the calendar,” said Leyla Bilge, Global Head of Scam Research for Norton. “People are understandably distracted, spending more on travel and tickets, tapping confirmation links without a second look. Scam Free Summer gives you the playbook to enjoy the season without lining a scammer’s pockets.” Gen’s threat data shares the top trends:
- Imposter scams are when fraudsters pose as family members, government agencies, or known contacts. These jumped 144% last summer compared to the rest of the year.
- Financial scam attacks in the U.S. were up 55% versus the annual average.
- Package delivery scams rose 89%.
- Gambling fraud climbed 88%, driven by summer sports events.
What’s new in 2026: AI is doing even more heavy lifting for scammers. Voice cloning has made phone-based imposter scams harder to detect, and deepfake technology has made romance fraud and investment schemes more convincing. Data breaches are contributing to the rise in Reservation Hijacking Scams, while lookalike sites built to mimic real booking platforms, sportsbooks, and ticket sellers are surfacing through paid search ads, often indistinguishable from the real thing. Norton’s threat intelligence team is tracking the scams hitting right now. Trending scams include:
- Reservation hijack attacks that use your real hotel name, real dates, and real confirmation number to redirect your payment to a fake page.
- Fake ticket sites for sold-out concerts, festivals, or sports events like the World Cup that surface above the legitimate sellers in search results.
- AI-powered romance scams where the video chats look real (because they are, just not the person on the other end).
- Gambling sites built specifically for major sporting events, designed to disappear by September before anyone catches up.
The forecast details 10 scams in total, each with the threat data behind the seasonal spike and the specific steps to avoid it. The full 2026 Summer Scam Forecast is available now.