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So you think you’ve been working your mouse and broadband connection overtime this holiday shopping season? Chances are, there are some criminals too who are working even harder, and it appears that smaller online retailers are the focus of this fraudulent holiday attention.

As reported in today’s New York Times article, “Online Swindlers Shift Focus to Smaller Retailers,” thieves are shifting techniques to combat stricter and better security practices at big merchants this year.

Typical fraud, once relegated to a breach of the retailer’s online system, now more likely involves stolen credit card numbers, email scams and gift card fraud. And that can be costly to the merchant, who must pay back credit card companies for the purchase and deal with the PR hassles of such fraud.

The article cites a Gartner study, which says that nearly 15 million Internet users shy away from online shopping due to security fears. That directly or indirectly could make it harder for smaller online merchants to sell as much, as wary consumers seek out known merchants instead of smaller firms.  Moreover, as a percent of overall sales, security is more costly to smaller retailers, even though the Internet was supposed to “level the virtual playing field.”

Smaller merchants are being hit hard already. The article says that their fraud rates are up to 3 percent in some cases, compared to 1.4 percent at other online retailers.

Once the dust settles from this online shopping season, no doubt new security measures will be instituted. But in the ever-present game of virtual cat and mouse, the online grinches will be trying new ways to catch unwary merchants.