The risks of fraud do not end after major retail events like Father’s Day or Black Friday — periods ripe for cyberattacks and digital scams. On the contrary, a growing trend is the increase in fraudulent activities in the months following these commercial events. According to Nethone, a digital fraud detection solution, in 2025, suspicious fraud attempts remained above 400 million in January and February, indicating that fraudsters continue to target users even when the volume of returns, refunds, and complaints is at its peak — making detection even more challenging.
From April to July, fraud attempts exceeded 500 million, showing that the risk is no longer tied only to traditional shopping seasons but rather to opportunistic attacks during promotional cycles. These ‘invisible peaks’ represent a challenge for retail, as they reveal that platforms and anti-fraud systems must operate with the same intensity even after events and throughout the year.
Moreover, with the growing adoption of global events like 8.8, 9.9, 10.10, Prime Day, and other international flash promotions, the Brazilian e-commerce calendar has become increasingly fragmented and distributed, creating multiple sales peaks that attract more attacks.
Among the most common crimes are chargeback fraud, where stolen credit card data is used to make online purchases; the creation of fake accounts to exploit coupons and promotions improperly; and social engineering scams, where criminals pose as company representatives to steal sensitive data or even money. The use of bots is also on the rise, carrying out automated attacks on login, registration, and payment processes. With the support of AI tools and stolen data, these methods have become more sophisticated, making it even harder to identify criminals, especially during periods of high operational demand.
“Fraudsters adapt and create their own calendar, intensifying their actions with every new high-traffic opportunity, whether global or local. This shows that companies need to adopt a continuous prevention strategy, aligned with every marketing and sales initiative — not just reinforce defenses during classic annual events like Black Friday or Christmas,” explains Thiago Bertacchini, Head of Sales and fraud detection expert at Nethone.
To mitigate risks, companies should combine advanced fraud detection technologies with well-structured internal policies. Machine learning and behavioral analysis solutions allow for identifying suspicious patterns in real-time, reducing false positives, and blocking attempts. It is essential to strengthen authentication processes, review payment flows, and implement additional checks on high-value transactions or newly created accounts. Additionally, continuous staff training and regularly updated security protocols ensure greater resilience against attacks. Another important measure is clear communication with customers about best practices — such as avoiding sharing sensitive information and verifying the legitimacy of contacts — to complement the company’s prevention efforts.
In this scenario, solutions that offer precise AI models without the need for manual review, analyzing user and device signals in every transaction, become indispensable. The technology must adapt to the specifics of each operation, trained with historically labeled data and continuous feedback, to prevent losses throughout the year and during every sales peak.
