Blog / Fraud trends
Refund abuse just outranked traditional forms of first-party abuse in terms of its negative impact on retailers – while 78% say fraud has stifled their growth to some extent.
09 September 2026
Online retail continues to thrive in an omnichannel world, but the threats are evolving fast.
To uncover the latest challenges for retailers who sell online, Ravelin conducted a survey of 1,504 fraud and payments professionals across 10 countries, exploring their recent observations, pain points, and future predictions.
Today, we're releasing new data for the Retail sector in the form of the Retail Fraud Trends 2026 – A Global Survey Report, breaking down findings across three key subsectors to support companies in better understanding the fraudscape:
Working with leading retail companies from across the world, Ravelin's expertise lies in preventing fraud and abuse, allowing merchants to convert with confidence.
This year's data reveals major shifts in the threat landscape. Notably, refund abuse has outranked traditional forms of first-party abuse, such as fraudulent chargeback claims, in terms of its negative impact on businesses.
Fraud continues to be a severe roadblock, with the average retailer losing $9.3m annually to fraudsters – both professional and amateur.
In fact, 78% of retail merchants agree that fraud has negatively affected their company's growth, and 52% have delayed entering new markets or launching new products specifically because of fraud concerns.
The report also dives into the future of agentic commerce, detailing predictions on autonomous AI agents and future fraud prevention spend.
Click here to read the Retail Fraud Trends 2026 by Ravelin – A Global Survey Report and better understand what's important and what's coming up in ecommerce retail fraud.
Nikoleta Dimitriou Senior Content Manager
