"Reserve’s software engineers noticed a spike in prospective fraudulent activity on the afternoon of February 14"
Interesting that they would be monitoring for fraudulent reservations. Are fraudulent reservation 'wars' between these companies pretty common that they would be tracking such behavior?
Also, if this isn't criminal, is DDoSing a SaaS competitor not criminal then, since they are pretty similar?
I don't know about the restaurant business, but I've been told by people in the flower trade that the long-stemmed rose business right before Feb. 14 is full of antics, deceptions, broken promises, dummy orders, etc. that are absolutely terrifying if you're new to the game.
So much money to be made so fast. It tends to attract . . . operators.
It would make for a fine bit of investigative reporting. Wish I had an article to recommend.
My source is a medium prominent tech executive who tried to disrupt the Valentine's Day flower business (with its high mark-ups). His plan was to set up his own, lower-priced regional alternative -- which would bring in planeloads of flowers from Central America, right on time.
Things did not work out the way he had hoped. Everything went sideways the first year. He tried again, and the second year was catastrophically worse. There was no third year.
That's why you should always have a domain expert on board when trying to enter a business you deem ripe for disruption. Chances are very high that you do not completely understand it.
NPR's Planet Money did an episode on the Valentine's Day rose craziness. I don't recall it being about particularly offside tactics, but it's from three years ago.
Its also rival restaurants, not just rival apps attempting to undermine their competition. Happens all the time on Amazon too apparently in the form of fake ratings right before a holiday.
Interesting that they would be monitoring for fraudulent reservations. Are fraudulent reservation 'wars' between these companies pretty common that they would be tracking such behavior?
Also, if this isn't criminal, is DDoSing a SaaS competitor not criminal then, since they are pretty similar?