Blog / Press release
Repeat offenders are embedding refund abuse into everyday shopping, while AI is accelerating fraud and making it harder for retailers to fight back.
02 July 2026
Repeat offenders are embedding refund abuse into everyday shopping
AI is accelerating refund fraud and making it harder for retailers to fight back
The growth of refund abuse is pushing up costs for everyone, says British Retail Consortium
Refundjacking – when everyday shoppers take advantage of merchants’ refund policies for personal gain – is fast becoming one of ecommerce’s most serious and underestimated threats.
New research from fraud prevention company Ravelin, the State of Refund Abuse Report reveals more than one in four consumers (27%) openly admit to abusing refund policies.
A staggering 98% of those who attempt it get away with it.
Of the major European markets surveyed, the UK has the biggest problem. Over a third (37%) of UK consumers have engaged in, or plan to engage in, refund abuse – more than in France (33%) and Germany (25%).
What was once opportunistic behavior is now embedded. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of refund abusers say they are doing it as often, or more often, than in previous years. This rises to 69% in the UK, which is again higher than France (55%) and Germany (56%).
It is these frequent abusers who pose the biggest risk to retailers: The more often a consumer attempts refund abuse, the more they financially gain per attempt.
The research shows occasional abusers (once per year) report earning an average of €/£390 per claim, but the most frequent abusers (4+ attempts per year) gain an average of €/£491 per claim. In other words, the most frequent abusers cost merchants more because they offend more often, but each offence also brings a higher financial reward.
Get Ravelin's exclusive research understand how shoppers view refunds – and how to stop refund abuse.
The findings point to a worrying shift in consumer behavior: Dishonesty is no longer hidden or accidental but increasingly normalized and openly discussed.
Typically, this behavior involves customers gaming refund and returns policies – falsely claiming goods never arrived, returning items after using them, or sending back empty boxes or dummy returns while keeping the original product.
The British Retail Consortium’s Policy Advisor for Finance, Chris Owen, said:
The growth of refund abuse is putting unnecessary financial drain on retailers at a time when margins are already under intense pressure.
The result is lost revenue and higher costs, meaning everyone ends up paying more. It’s a serious problem which requires serious attention.
The BRC is working with our members and others to tackle this growing problem."
“This is no longer fringe behavior,” said Martin Sweeney, CEO of Ravelin.
Our research shows refund abuse becoming more prevalent and normalized.
People aren’t sneaking around the edges of policy anymore. They’re openly breaking the rules, sharing tips on how to cheat the system and justifying it as fair game.
Merchants face a challenge to balance great experiences for good customers while discouraging or blocking abusive behaviors.”
Almost a third (32%) of those who have engaged in refund abuse report using mainstream AI tools to obtain fraudulent or fake refunds by generating fake images to falsify evidence, find holes in policy documents, and/or automating letters to customer service.
A quarter of UK consumers (25%) say they use AI tools to specifically learn techniques and tips for securing fraudulent refunds.
Despite the scale of the issue, many ecommerce companies continue to rely on blanket responses. But by tightening policies across the board, merchants risk making shopping harder for all customers and undermining brand loyalty.
75% of shoppers polled in the Ravelin study agree that those who abuse refund policies make online shopping less pleasant or less convenient for honest customers.
Making the right judgment call on refund abuse can be difficult. The research suggests many refund abusers would desist if merchants were tougher with them.
Refund abusers, and those considering it, say merchants could persuade them to stop if they threaten police action (21%), ban them entirely (19%), or directly message them about their activity (18%).
These are drastic interventions. For Ravelin, the most effective line of defence is a deeper and more detailed understanding of all customer behavior as part of a sophisticated refund abuse solution.
Sweeney adds,
The most efficient response involves using your own data to your advantage. The better a merchant understands the different cohorts of refund abusers, the more they can tailor their approaches to the problem. Blanket rules treat every customer as a risk – and that simply doesn’t work any more.
Retailers need to focus on behavior, intent and patterns over time. When you target abuse more intelligently, you protect revenue without undermining the shopping experience for everyone else.
And that’s the balance the industry now has to strike.”
Ravelin commissioned a survey of 6,282 adult consumers, drawn from the UK (2,115 respondents), Germany (2,095 respondents), and France (2,072 respondents) who have shopped online in the last six months. The survey was designed to understand people’s attitudes and behaviors toward refund abuse, loyalty, and AI use for refunds.
Get the State of Refund Abuse Report to explore how the shifting refund landscape can eat into your bottom line.
AI-native fraud prevention company Ravelin provides technology and support that helps 340+ online companies detect evolving fraud threats and accept payments with confidence. Combining machine learning, graph networks, behavioral analysis, consortium data, and granular rules, Ravelin has been empowering businesses for over 12 years to draw deeper insights from their data, serve more customers, and grow securely. www.ravelin.com
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