Major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Wayfair have been targeted by scams exploiting return policies for financial gain. In 2023, total returns for the retail industry amounted to $743 billion in merchandise, with US retailers losing over $100 billion in return fraud. The use of AI technology like Vrai could help mitigate these losses by detecting counterfeit returns.
Key takeaways:
- Lacoste is using an AI technology called Vrai, developed by Cypheme, to detect counterfeit returns with 99.7% accuracy.
- Return fraud is a growing issue costing retailers billions, with US retailers losing over $100 billion in 2023 alone.
- Major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Wayfair have been targeted by scams exploiting return policies for financial gain.
- A crime ring exploited a 'no-return refunds' policy, recruiting legitimate shoppers to purchase items, get them refunded, and then keep or resell the goods.