Shopping with AI agents comes with its own risks

The advent of AI shopping not only gives consumers access to personalized advice and hassle-free shopping, but also increases the risk of digital fraud.

This year on Black Friday, both consumers and retailers are being warned for the first time about the dangers of so-called “proxy shopping.” Consumers leverage large-scale language models to search for products, compare products, receive personalized recommendations, and even make purchases with little to no human input. These technological advances come with their own risks.

“This definitely makes my life easier, but it also makes fraudsters’ lives a lot easier,” said Michael Leitblatt, CEO of Forter, an identity intelligence company that works on fraud prevention.

According to Leitblatt, consumer agency shopping has increased 200% in the past six months. Along with this, the number of fraudsters using AI has increased nearly 10 times. “Think of it like sending thousands of robots into different stores pretending to be good consumers,” Leitblatt said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

While some retailers’ opportunistic reaction was to simply ban AI-powered purchases, Leitblatt said this may be the wrong strategy as more and more consumers are using AI to shop, which drives high-quality traffic.

A report from McKinsey & Company and The Business of Fashion found that fashion executives see AI and digital tools as the single biggest opportunity for the industry in 2026. To ensure products are recognized and championed by AI models, brands need to rethink their marketing and e-commerce strategies, the report said, adding that semantically rich data and API-accessible content are critical to success.

“To fight AI, we need to use AI,” Leitblatt said. “We need to make sure we’re leveraging better data than the fraudsters have, and we need to be smart about how we authenticate consumers.”

Another factor retailers will have to contend with this year is the value-conscious consumer, as rising trade tensions and concerns about an economic slowdown impact consumer spending habits.

Consumer confidence is unstable heading into the shopping season. Business confidence in Europe has remained stubbornly below its long-term average since mid-2022, according to data from the European Commission. Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the United States fell to its lowest level in November since April amid growing concerns about job security.

Some experts have suggested that what is known as the “K-shaped economy” is creating a polarization between wealthy consumers who are doing well and those who are holding back on spending under pressure from rising prices.

“Consumer confidence remains volatile, so whether customers feel like they’re getting real value will be a big thing this year,” he said. curryDean Kramer, Chief Service Officer.

“We know that research is a key part of how consumers approach Black Friday and ensuring they get absolute value.”