Scalpers appear to use bots to buy up thousands of iPhone 15 models, according to new research. And iPhone 15 Pro Max appears to sit at the top of the list.
The findings point to bots preordering thousands of units as a reason regular buyers face back-orders with long wait times.
Bot-based preorders may be behind backordered iPhone 15 models
The research comes from security company Kasada. It claims in a blog post scalpers automate their preordering through bots to take advantage of high demand for the titanium handsets. And then they sell the iPhones at higher-than-retail prices.
Kasada likened the practice to that of modern concert-ticket and game-console scalping.
Bot preordering seen online
Photo: Kasada
“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,” it said.
The anti-bot firm sells services designed to help minimize bots’ impact on businesses. It said it saw “successful botting activity to abuse the Apple iPhone Pro Max pre-ordering process.”
Kasada noted the activity is often in communities and all-in-one (AIO) services where it typically sees scalping of various products, like popular sneakers.
Scalper profit of $300 on each Pro handset
Photo: Kasada
And scalpers can certainly make money off the top with a pricey gadget like iPhone 15 Pro Max. Plus they probably won’t get stuck with the sought-after, returnable products.
“The expected profit made by scaling one of the Pro models is estimated at $300 each,” Kasada said. “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.”
The company cited an example where a bot successfully placed 2,500 iPhone preorders in one day for a likely profit of $750,000. In another example, a bot checked out 3,000 times for a possible $1 million profit.
Kasada may at least somewhat overstate the impact of the scalping on consumers.
“Most of the population wanting to pre-order is at a severe disadvantage in ordering a new iPhone without the use of a bot,” it claimed.
And at the bottom of the blog post lurks a sales pitch for Kasada services, of course.
