After Apple introduced the new iPhone 15 lineup this month, it’s clear they will be on the top of holiday wish lists for many. Unfortunately, there’s already pent-up demand for these models and it’s anticipated the Pro Max will take months before people will receive them. And when there’s this much demand, the bots are sure to follow to get their piece of the pie.
As we recently saw with Taylor Swift tickets and PS5s last holiday season, scalpers are using bots to automate purchases of the new iPhone to maximize their profits.
Skipping the Digital Line for an iPhone 15
Kasada has been witnessing successful botting activity to abuse the Apple iPhone Pro Max pre-ordering process. More often than not, the activity is within the same communities and all-in-one (AIO) services that make their money scalping hype sneakers and electronics consoles.
Here’s an example of an AIO bot notorious for sniping electronics and GPUs shifting their efforts towards the iPhone15. The expected profit made by scaling one of the Pro models is estimated at $300 each. Given Apple’s flexible return policy, there’s little risk of being stuck with the device so scalpers see this opportunity for profit as a risk-free return.
