Scalper Bots Enabling DVSA Driving Take a look at Black Market

A surge in using scalper bots is inflicting chaos for driving take a look at candidates within the UK, new analysis from DataDome has revealed.

The fraud prevention specialist claimed that scalpers are utilizing automated packages to guide in-demand driving exams when new slots are launched each Monday morning. As a result of the bots are ready to take action in beneath 10 seconds, versus 4 minutes for the typical human, touts have an outsized benefit.

Though exams are nominally obtainable for £65 ($86) on the Driver and Autos Requirements Company (DVSA) web site, they’re being bought for as a lot as £250 on social media platforms, with some touts bragging of creating hundreds of kilos a day, DataDome claimed.

The agency warned that some resellers are additionally demanding further private data from would-be driving take a look at candidates, exposing them to potential fraud.

The UK has by no means recovered from a pandemic-era backlog made worse by shortages of driving take a look at supervisors. Though the DVSA has vowed a crackdown on driving instructors reserving take a look at slots for learner drivers they aren’t instructing, its plans to scale back the present wait time to seven weeks by December look bold.

There are not any legal guidelines stopping using DIY bots to guide driving exams. Nevertheless, their use has resulted in delays which might attain six months on common, that means many learners’ concept exams expire earlier than they get behind the wheel, DataDome mentioned.

The agency recognized three essential challenges dealing with the DVSA:

Its website solely makes use of anti-bot measures on sure endpoints, leaving others uncovered
The positioning solely makes use of a easy CAPTCHA take a look at initially of the reserving course of, which isn’t satisfactory safety from as we speak’s bots
DataDome was capable of efficiently guide exams utilizing an open supply bot framework and CAPTCHA-solving service with little configuration

“Whereas the DVSA has tried to introduce adjustments to make it simpler for learners to safe that essential take a look at slot, it has uncared for to handle one essential challenge: bots. Even novices with a fundamental understanding of coding can create their very own ‘DIY scalper bot,’ which might efficiently snap up a take a look at in lower than 10 seconds,” defined co-founder Benjamin Barrier.

“We will’t enable bots for use to revenue off fundamental authorities providers that everybody ought to have entry to.”