Part of what makes online shopping so convenient is an easy and efficient return policy. Yet, recently thousands of users have been targeting these policies in refund fraud schemes….
And retailers are sick and tired of being taken advantage of.
What Is Refund Fraud?
Companies all over the internet have been feeling pressure during online transactions…
These schemes usually involve customers requesting a refund for their purchase…
And never sending the physical items back. Not only do they get to keep their order, but they also get their money back.
Essentially, this allows customers to get away with stealing items from the retailers…
COSTING COMPANIES BIG TIME.
To make matters more complicated, mass refund fraud is conducted in organized rings, where customers…
Criminals…
and often retail employees…
work together to accomplish their goals.
These rings are organized like regular businesses. How it works is fairly simple:
- A shopper buys an item online and sends the order information to a refund fraud group.
- The group requests a refund while pretending to be the customer.
- The retailer issues the refund.
- The customer pays a percentage of the amount refunded to the group.
To throw off their scent, these organized groups utilize different fraudulent methods…
Such as Mail-In fraud, which means returning an empty box to the retailer instead of the product.
But these groups don’t just operate in the shadows… they’re hiding in plain sight.
IN FACT, THESE GROUPS PROMOTE THEMSELVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
On sites like TikTok and Reddit, you can learn how to “master the art of refunding”. Accounts that promote this activity usually have links that connect viewers to these fraud rings.
But now… companies aren’t just starting to figure it out…
They’re fighting back.
Retailers Are Cracking Down
Companies are cracking down and tracking down the refund fraud rings.
What once was an inconvenience has since exploded into a massive problem for online retailers. According to the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail…
THIS TYPE OF FRAUD COST BUSINESSES OVER $101 BILLION LAST YEAR
As these brands face the problem head-on, they want fraudsters to know that they’re not working alone. Partnering with law enforcement…
Together they are tracking down these rings and individuals within them.
Amazon is leading the way, having broken up these rings…
Leading to civil lawsuits and arrests.
And it’s not just the retailers, the same social media sites where the rings would promote their operations are starting to get shut down. TikTok and Reddit have both actively been removing any content that shares tips on how to commit mass refund fraud.
While it’s no secret businesses have been dealing with more creative thefts, both in person and online…
It questions the future of easy returns.
The Future Of Returns
As for their refund policies, online retailers are starting to toughen up those too. Now if you refund items a few too many times, the retailers will take note and put your account on pause.
Thanks to these fraud rings…
The days of easy returns might soon be coming to an end.
Be Great,
GCTV Staff
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