People in several states, frustrated with the difficulty in finding available COVID vaccine appointments, have created their own smartphone apps or websites that are now helping others, too.
U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of “bot” attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up COVID-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers.
FOCUS-Walgreens, CVS beef up protections against threat of bot attacks on vaccine program Reuters 2/5/2021
By Melissa Fares, Richa Naidu and Lisa Baertlein
NEW YORK/CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of bot attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up Covid-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers.
For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called “scalper bots,” programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.
By Melissa Fares, Richa Naidu and Lisa Baertlein
NEW YORK/CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of bot attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up Covid-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers.
For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called âscalper bots,â programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.
The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem because the boom in online shopping expanded scalpers sights to new categories from fitness equipment to essential goods like toilet paper and detergents. In Britain, scalpers using bots have also snatched online grocery delivery slots reserved for at-risk senior citizens.
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NEW YORK/CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of “bot” attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up COVID-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers.
FILE PHOTO: People line up outside Yankee stadium for vaccines amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 5, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called “scalper bots,” programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.