Changes in taxes, import duties and cross-border trade rules are likely to be used as lures in phishing campaigns and fraudulent online stores, promoting unrealistically cheap offers or claims of avoided fees
Emphasising that conversational interfaces encourage users to share more detailed, natural-language requests, a report has stated that chatbots are likely to become a common product discovery tool across online marketplaces. The report also warned that image-based product search might become a new challenge in privacy risks.
This shift expands the privacy attack surface, as platforms accumulate richer user profiles through chat interactions. As a result, chatbot logs may become as sensitive as transactional data, increasing the risks of over-collection, misuse, or exposure of personal information, a report by Kaspersky highlighted.
“Search itself is changing, including how people look for products online. In 2025, there was a gradual shift from simple keyword queries to more conversational and visual ways of finding what to buy. As these models rely on broader user input, careful handling of the data involved will remain an important consideration for maintaining user trust,” stated Anna Larkina, Web Data and Privacy Analysis Expert, Kaspersky.
Highlighting that while the main privacy concern around user images in ecommerce was limited to photos voluntarily shared in product reviews, the report warned that image-based product search is expected to make photo uploads a routine part of the shopping experience across major retail platforms. While this feature improves product discovery, it also increases the risk of unintended exposure of personal data.
Modifications in taxes, import duties and cross-border trade rules are likely to be used as lures in phishing campaigns and fraudulent online stores, promoting unrealistically cheap offers or claims of avoided fees. As pricing and fee rules continue to evolve across markets, it may lower vigilance, increasing the effectiveness of such schemes, particularly against small and mid-sized retailers, it added.
The report pointed out that the number of unique users in the retail and ecommerce sector who encountered ransomware detections increased by 152 per cent in 2025 compared to 2023. Seasonal peaks in online shopping consistently provide attackers with predictable opportunities to scale user-focused attacks. Periods of heightened promotional activity lower user vigilance and allow familiar phishing and spam scenarios to blend into legitimate marketing traffic, increasing their overall effectiveness, it highlighted.
