The risks of fraud do not end after major retail dates, such as Father's Day or Black Friday — fertile periods 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 toNethonedigital fraud detection solution in 2025, suspicious fraud attempts remained above 400 million in January and February, indicating that fraudsters continue targeting 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, demonstrating that the risk is no longer solely tied to traditional shopping seasons but rather to opportunistic attacks during promotional cycles. These "invisible peaks" pose a challenge for retail, as they reveal that fraud prevention platforms and systems need to operate with the same intensity even after the events and throughout the entire year.
Furthermore, with the increasing adoption of global events such as 8.8, 9.9, 10.10, Prime Day, and other international flash sales, 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 improperly take advantage of coupons and promotions; and social engineering scams, in which criminals impersonate company representatives to steal sensitive data or even money. The use of bots is also on the rise, performing automated attacks on login, registration, and payment processes. With the support of AI tools and stolen data, these methods are becoming more sophisticated, making it even more difficult to identify the criminals, especially during periods of high operational demand.
"Fraudsters adapt and create their own calendar, intensifying their actions with each new high-traffic opportunity, whether global or local. This shows that companies need to adopt a continuous prevention strategy, aligned with each marketing and sales initiative — not just reinforce defenses during classic events of the year, such as Black Friday or Christmas," explains Thiago Bertacchini, Head of Sales and fraud detection specialist at Nethone.
To mitigate risks, companies should combine advanced fraud detection technologies with well-structured internal policies. Machine learning solutions and behavioral analysis enable the identification of suspicious patterns in real time, reduce false positives, and block 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 team training and regularly updated security protocols ensure greater resilience against attacks. Another important measure is clear communication with the client 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 accurate AI models without the need for manual review, analyzing signals from users and devices in each transaction, become indispensable. Technology must adapt to the specificities of each operation, trained with labeled historical data and continuous feedback, to prevent losses throughout the year and during each sales peak.
