Eloquent's increment() Trap: How Unsaved Models Cause Unscoped Database Updates

Using increment() on unsaved Eloquent models triggers unscoped UPDATE queries that modify every table row—a silent data corruption risk developers often overlook. This behavior stems from Eloquent's internal `exists` flag, which controls query scoping across many methods. Understanding this relationship is critical for data safety, and developers should ensure models are persisted before calling increment() or opt for firstOrCreate() instead.