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Protect product drops, checkout, and customer accounts from bots

Scrapers read the catalog, inventory bots buy the limited drop, card testers use the payment form, and credential stuffers use the login. Centinel evaluates how each request was made, so shoppers keep a fast checkout and the scripts get a different response.

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Why it matters

The bots use the same routes your customers pay through

None of these bots needs a hidden endpoint. They load product pages, add to cart, log in, and submit payment details like any shopper, and every one of those routes earns revenue. A rule that blocks the route blocks the sale. The useful question is how each request was made.

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How it works against you

What the traffic looks like

  • Limited stock, bought by script

    Scalping bots (OWASP OAT-005, often called sneaker bots) watch for a release and check out faster than a person can, across many accounts and addresses.

  • The catalog, copied every hour

    Competitors and resellers walk product and search pages to track prices and stock, spreading requests across proxies so no single address stands out.

  • Stolen cards checked at your checkout

    Card-testing scripts submit card after card through payment and card-setup forms to learn which ones still work, and the store keeps the fees and disputes.

How Centinel closes it

What runs against this traffic

  • Evidence on cart and checkout routes

    In supported web checkouts, Centinel evaluates browser and request evidence around add-to-cart and payment, before the request reaches payment handling.

    Scripted checkout and card testing can be challenged or blocked while ordinary shoppers see no extra step. Centinel does not decide whether a card or transaction is fraudulent.

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  • Evidence on catalog and search routes

    In supported browser deployments, Centinel evaluates request and browser evidence on product and search pages instead of relying on one address or header.

    A price-scraping session can be rate-limited or challenged without putting every shopper through the same check.

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  • A login policy for customer accounts

    Where the integration supports it, login attempts can be observed, rate-limited, challenged, or blocked by how they were made.

    Credential stuffing against stored cards and loyalty balances meets friction. Centinel does not decide whether a password was stolen.

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  • Evidence behind repeated offer claims

    In supported sign-up flows, Centinel evaluates the session around account creation and promo redemption, not only the submitted details.

    Scripted sign-ups that claim a first-order discount again and again can be reviewed or restricted. Offer eligibility stays with your rules.

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Start with your site

Want to see what reaches your site?

Start with a free scraping audit: tested tools, exposed pages, and fixes to consider, reviewed by hand and emailed to you. This checks scraping exposure, not every abuse pattern or all production traffic. Discuss broader workflow coverage in a demo.

Questions

Retail & e-commerce: common questions

What platform and security teams ask before they deploy.

What is ecommerce bot protection?

Ecommerce bot protection separates automated requests from shoppers on a store's product, cart, login, and checkout routes, then applies a response to the automation: allow, rate-limit, challenge, or block. It targets scraping, scalping, card testing, and credential stuffing.

What is a sneaker bot?

A sneaker bot is a script that buys limited-release products the moment they go on sale, usually across many accounts, cards, and proxy addresses to get around per-customer limits. OWASP catalogs the pattern as OAT-005 Scalping.

How do bots test stolen cards on an online store?

They submit many card numbers through checkout or an add-card form and record which ones the payment provider accepts. The store still pays authorization and dispute fees, and a rising decline rate can affect its legitimate payments.

Can a store block price scrapers and keep Google Shopping?

Yes. Search crawlers can be confirmed against the verification data their operators publish, and approved feed partners can keep an explicit policy. A scraper that copies a crawler's user agent gets no trust from the name alone.

Does bot protection replace ecommerce fraud prevention?

No. Bot protection asks how a request was made; fraud prevention asks whether a person, card, or order is legitimate. Bot protection removes scripted volume before it reaches checkout, and the fraud tool decides on the orders that remain.