Detecting Residential Proxy Networks
In recent years we have observed the rise of so called 'residential' proxy networks. These are proxy networks custom tailored to appear as a residential connection, while being hosted inside of a data center on a server.
Such a service generally charges around $2.00 - $3.00 for access to a single residential proxy IP address for a term of one month, and there are at least dozens of services offering such proxies.
The motiviation behind such services is primarily to support the 'scalping' market. Scalping is the act of purchasing many limited stock, in demand products, most commonly items such as shoes, GPU's, gaming consoles and anything else that might have a low supply with high demand, in order to resell it for a profit. Indeed we can see these services openly advertising their proxies are capable of succesfully circumventing anti-scalper checks on the most popular websites.
These proxy networks directly hurt your average, every day consumer, while bringing in a sizeable income to the operators, who resell the same products the consumer originally wanted to buy at an increased price.
