Careful; your Secret Santa can steal your data.

Kasada has provided new statistics on the current fraud and harmful automation trends, demonstrating increasing dangers around the holidays, an increase in bot attacks, and the discovery of a new amped-up ‘All in One (AIO) Grinch Bot’ being utilized frequently during hype drop sales.

Automation trends that are out of control

Gift card fraud:

Gift cards have been acquired at a higher rate than ever before since they have been offered as a temporary solution for customers who have run out of options. Gift cards are expected to account for 40% of all gift purchases this holiday season, making them a prime target for cybercriminals.

Over the last two months, automated gift card balance lookups have quadrupled. This is a strong indicator that hackers employ bots to detect and steal gift card balances. People may unintentionally present zero-balance gift cards to friends and loved ones this holiday season because stolen cards are typically spent before they are received as gifts.

Credential stuffing

Large-scale credential stuffing has caused a substantial spike in account takeover attempts. Assailants utilize credentials stolen from earlier breaches to gain access to user accounts to sell stolen account details for credit card washing, loyalty, gift card, and reward point draining.

So, this Christmas, be careful while receiving digital gifts.