AI-driven returns abuse on the rise as consumers chance their arm
Forter, a company that specialises in AI built to help with fraud, abuse, and payments decisions, has reported a 15% rise in returns abuse over the last six months of 2025.
The company, which it claims works with nearly a million merchants and reviews $500 billion in global online transactions every year, said that the data show a clear shift in how returns are being handled and often exploited.
With AI being so commonplace and highly-developed now, Forter flags up the nefarious ways that this can be utilised by chancers who want to game the system to the detriments of retailers.
“What used to be a fairly manual and limited behaviour is now easier to scale,” the company said. “With simple AI tools, it is possible to generate convincing photos, receipts, and other supporting evidence in seconds, which is changing the pressure retailers face in managing returns fairly and consistently.
Key findings from Forter’s research include that AI-generated damage claims are now the fastest-growing type of returns abuse; and that 30% of consumers admit to buying extra items to meet free shipping thresholds and then returning them.
“Generative AI has created a new class of refund and returns scams where the ‘evidence’ itself is manufactured,” warned Forter CEO Michael Reitblat. “AI can now be used to produce doctored photos and videos of supposedly damaged or spoiled goods, fake receipts, and even fabricated chat transcripts to trigger fraudulent refunds.
“You don’t need to be a sophisticated criminal to do this. Off the shelf tools and even “fraud as a service” offerings lower the bar so that almost anyone can generate convincing images, documents or scripts for a claim.
“AI has democratised fraud: it makes abuse easier, faster and more scalable, especially in channels like returns and refunds that were already relying on screenshots, emails, and photos as proof.”
