Report finds customers just as much of a fraud threat as organised criminals…

Customer abuse is now viewed as posing the same level of ecommerce fraud risk as organised criminal activity, new research from Ravelin reveals.

The company’s Global Fraud Trends 2026 report found that merchants now view first-party fraud – where customers abuse systems such as chargebacks, refunds and returns – as posing a similar level of risk to traditional criminals.

The findings come as ecommerce fraud continues to rise. Ravelin estimates that the average ecommerce enterprise lost $11.4 Million (£8.4 Million) to fraud over the past year, a 7.5% increase on 2025 levels. Across the 1,500 merchants surveyed, 66% reported an increase in fraud.

While stolen payment cards remain the biggest source of losses, customer-driven fraud is becoming a growing concern. More than four in ten merchants (43%) said customer fraud has increased over the past 12 months, with chargeback fraud and refund abuse now ranked among the most costly fraud types.

The report also highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of merchants reported experiencing AI-enabled fraud or abuse during the past year, while 66% attributed at least some of their fraud losses to AI-powered attacks.

Perhaps most concerningly, many retailers believe they are falling behind. Three in ten respondents said they do not currently use AI to combat fraud, while two-thirds agreed they should be doing more to tackle the problem.

Commenting, Martin Sweeney, CEO at Ravelin, said: “The line between professional syndicates and abusive customers is blurring. At the same time, AI is turning up the heat, enabling criminals and consumers to automate and commit fraud at scale. This is a new phase of ecommerce fraud. As it evolves, merchants should ensure they understand, quantify and prevent the full range of threats.”

The findings highlight the increasingly complex fraud landscape facing retailers, where organised criminal activity, customer abuse and AI-enabled attacks are converging to create new challenges for loss prevention teams.

Ecommerce fraud and the wider risks facing retailers will be among the topics discussed at upcoming Retail Risk events. You can view the full calendar of events here.