Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain the busiest and riskiest days of the retail year. Beyond record-breaking sales and volume spikes, these events serve as a live stress test for eCommerce merchants worldwide. SEON’s latest report, Black Friday & Cyber Monday: A Data-Driven Report for eCommerce, reveals how fraudsters evolved their playbook to exploit holiday demand, using automation, spoofed devices and synthetic identities to slip past defenses.
Analyzing transaction data from October through December 2024, SEON’s research found that fraud activity outpaced shopping growth by a wide margin. Fraudulent transactions rose approximately five times higher on Black Friday and four times higher on Cyber Monday compared to October baselines. These weren’t isolated surges — fraud pressure stayed elevated for weeks before and after, stretching risk teams and systems to their limits.
Automation drove much of this escalation. Bot-driven attacks surged by more than 400% during Black Friday Week and continued strong through Christmas. Fraudsters also refined their tactics: instead of hiding behind suspicious browsers or VPNs, they blended in using clean IPs, real browsers, and device emulators that made them appear genuine. This behavioral shift made traditional detection rules less effective, highlighting the need for multi-signal, adaptive monitoring.
The human impact was equally significant. Manual reviews on Cyber Monday jumped by a staggering 373%, the most of any day in Q4. Even as overall fraud rates stayed level, risk teams faced heavier workloads and longer queues — slowing legitimate customers and raising cart abandonment risks. The report underscores that success in fraud prevention cannot come at the cost of conversion or customer satisfaction.
Regional analysis shows fraud intensity was highest in the U.S. and Western Europe, where peak sales campaigns also drew the most bot and device activity. For merchants in these markets, preparation is essential well before November. The report concludes with a readiness checklist and practical guidance, covering model tuning, automation and layered defenses—to help retailers maintain agility throughout the peak season.
Peak-season fraud has become a sustained, coordinated campaign. The merchants who treat prevention as a year-round strategy, not just a holiday exercise, will protect more revenue and preserve trust when competition is fiercest.
Download SEON’s full 2025 Black Friday / Cyber Monday report to explore the complete data, insights and recommendations for staying ahead of emerging threats.
