Core Insights - The 2025 Holiday Season Cyber Threat Trends report by RH-ISAC indicates a significant rise in fraud and automated bot attacks during the peak shopping season, particularly affecting the retail, hospitality, and travel sectors [1][2]. Fraud Trends - Fraud has escalated to become the most prevalent threat for consumer-facing organizations in Q4, with key concerns including receipt and return abuse, loyalty and points fraud, refund scams, and bot-driven schemes that quickly acquire high-demand items [2][4]. Cybersecurity Concerns - There is an increasing worry about account takeover attempts, malicious look-alike domains, and fraudulent advertisements targeting consumers during peak shopping days, with groups like ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider expected to enhance extortion operations [3][4]. Preparedness Measures - RH-ISAC member organizations are implementing company-wide awareness campaigns, incident-response exercises, and utilizing AI-driven tools to detect unusual behavior during critical shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday [4][5]. Automated Attack Predictions - The report forecasts a staggering 520% increase in genAI-driven traffic in the 10 days leading up to Thanksgiving, posing challenges for frontline staff in differentiating between legitimate customer issues and fraudulent activities [5]. High-Risk Periods - High-risk periods for various threat categories are anticipated from mid-November through late December, with specific spikes in fraud activity expected during this timeframe [5].