Fraud has always been an issue for retailers, long before the first online transaction happened. As consumers began shopping online, the incidence of fraud increased and fraudsters learned new and creative ways to carry out crimes. Fraud losses have historically been high -- the Federal Trade Commission reported $1.48 billion in 2018, increasing to more than $1.9 billion in 2019.
But the pandemic changed everything: Ecommerce growth reached five-year projections in just the first six months of lockdowns.
That increase in online sales and transactions comes an equally large increase in fraud. At the height of the pandemic, when ecommerce shopping was at its peak, so was online fraud – 81% of consumers said they were victims of ecommerce fraud at least one time.
While the trajectory has slowed a bit, online shopping (and the risk of fraud) is here to stay. In August 2022, U.S. Department of Commerce reported online sales of more than $257 billion, a 13.9% increase over Q2 2021. In fact, our original research highlighted that 78% of consumers spend more and/or are shopping online more often as a result of the pandemic.
Related Topics
Related Resources
State of Consumer Attitudes on Ecommerce, Fraud & CX 2021
Monitoring Social Media for Fraud
How Do Banks Investigate Unauthorized Transactions?