Fraud

Instead of traditional reactive policies and trying to figure out how to reduce product returns​, learn smarter strategies that reduce costs, prevent abuse, improve customer experience, and enhance sustainability efforts. Return fraud is no longer an anomaly; it’s a persistent challenge baked into the e-commerce experience. As online shopping grows, so does the volume of…

In episode 488 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Kebharu Smith, director and associate general counsel of Amazon.com's Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU), a global team working to investigate, find and launch legal action and criminal referrals against counterfeiters. Listen in as Smith provides an overview of the CCU's work to prevent counterfeit product…

Many businesses are turning to Schedule A cases to try to stop online counterfeiters, who can be difficult to identify on third-party online marketplaces. Schedule A refers to an IP case where a plaintiff typically sues numerous defendants, allegedly selling counterfeit products or infringing trademarks, under seal with an attached document titled “Schedule A” that…

Not all fraud looks like fraud — and that’s what makes it so hard to catch. It doesn’t come with red flags or fake credit cards. It comes from real addresses. Repeat customers. Polite emails that say, “My package never arrived.” And increasingly, it’s coming from your best shoppers. Welcome to the new era of…

A recent survey from the Association for Financial Professionals revealed payment fraud is up while fraud recovery rates have plummeted. And this may be only the beginning of a new era of fraud challenges. Already, 2025 has become the year of agentic artificial intelligence, in which AI-powered systems can execute a series of tasks without…

It’s no surprise that, due to the recent tumultuous economic backdrop, consumers are shifting their shopping habits to find the best deals, choose brands that have lenient return policies, and make the most of the money they do choose to spend. A recent survey of consumers in the U.S. and U.K. explored the overarching theme…

Fraud isn’t new. Counterfeit luxury goods were such a problem in ancient Rome that laws were passed to deter them. By the 13th century, forging a trademark could cost you your life. Fast-forward to today. Fraud now scales with modern commerce. Tampering, theft and shrinkage are increasingly prevalent across global retail and e-commerce supply chains,…

The North Face and Cartier have become the latest brands to report that hackers have stolen customer data in cyber attacks, reports Yahoo Finance. Both brands have reported that data such as customer names and email addresses have been accessed, although financial information hasn't been affected. Outdoor clothing brand The North Face said it was…

Small e-commerce merchants are becoming prime targets for sophisticated fraud attacks despite many believing they're too insignificant to attract cybercriminals' attention. In reality, these small businesses are increasingly vulnerable precisely because of their limited fraud prevention resources. Recently, it was revealed that fraudsters are employing sophisticated tactics. They're now impersonating legitimate small merchants, stealing videos,…

Many e-commerce merchants believe choosing a PCI-compliant payment processor covers their security responsibilities. Starting March 31, 2025, that assumption put them at risk. Under PCI DSS v4.0.1, even merchants that outsource payment processing must meet stricter security requirements, especially around third-party scripts. For years, outsourcing payment processing allowed merchants to complete a streamlined Self-Assessment Questionnaire…