Retail Cache news

Commentary and analysis on the fraud, retail and fintech stories that matter, seen through a Retail Cache lens. Every piece links out to its original source.

Illustration of a smartphone showing a live video call icon beside a torn document with a faint AI-generated watermark

First-Party FraudJuly 30, 2026·6 min read

One Retailer Beat an AI-Faked Damage Claim With a Single FaceTime Call

Boll & Branch caught an AI-generated damage photo, complete with an AI watermark, and asked the customer to verify it live on FaceTime. They never responded.

Source: Modern RetailRead more→

Illustration of a bright spotlight over a checkout counter and a dim unlit returns counter beside it in the same store

First-Party FraudJuly 29, 2026·6 min read

"The Returns Process Has Become a Blind Spot." Retailers Built It Themselves.

ReBound Returns found 3.9% of returns fraudulent across 1 million orders, costing £29m. Their own verdict: fraud investment stayed at the checkout while the risk moved.

Source: ReBound Returns, The Returns Fraud PlaybookRead more→

Illustration of an opened luxury perfume box with an elegant bottle on one side and a lump of modeling clay in its place on the other

First-Party FraudJuly 28, 2026·6 min read

He Swapped the Perfume for Modeling Clay. The Box Looked Perfect.

A man allegedly returned $250,000 of luxury fragrances after swapping the bottles for modeling clay and resealing the boxes (NBC Chicago). Each return looked perfect.

Source: NBC ChicagoRead more→

Illustration of an anonymous figure in a headset handing refunded cash to a shopper who keeps their shopping bag, a price menu beside them

First-Party FraudJuly 21, 2026·6 min read

You Can Now Hire a Professional to Commit Your Refund Fraud

Professional 'refunders' will talk a refund out of a retailer for a 15-40% cut while you keep the goods (Frank on Fraud). Refund fraud is now a service you can hire.

Source: Frank on FraudRead more→

Illustration of a small storefront with its shutter half lowered under a large looming downward-pressing shadow

First-Party FraudJuly 20, 2026·6 min read

Refund Fraud Is No Longer a Margin Problem. It's an Existential One.

48% of UK retail leaders have weighed scaling back or closing over rising fraud, with refund fraud the top type (payabl.). It is now a survival question, not a cost line.

Source: payabl., Fraud in Europe 2026Read more→

Illustration of a glowing dispute button with two faint diverging silhouettes behind it, a genuine customer and an opportunist

First-Party FraudJuly 17, 2026·6 min read

Not Every Chargeback Is Fraud, and That's Exactly the Problem

Americans filed 158 million card disputes in 2025, up 29% since 2021 (Bloomberg). Calling all of it 'friendly fraud' is the mistake: some is genuine recourse, some is abuse.

Source: BloombergRead more→

Illustration of a paper receipt that is half real and half dissolving into glowing generated pixels

First-Party FraudJuly 16, 2026·6 min read

AI Can Fake the Evidence Now, and Refund Fraud Is Getting Easier

65% of shoppers say AI has made faking a refund claim easier (Ravelin). When the receipt and the damage photo can both be faked, checking the evidence harder is a losing game.

Source: Ravelin, State of Refunds 2026Read more→

Illustration of one figure at the centre with lines radiating out to a dozen identical storefronts across a map

First-Party FraudJuly 15, 2026·6 min read

Refund Fraud Is Organised Now, and It Never Hits Just One Store

One man was jailed for $464,000 in fake Home Depot refunds across a dozen stores. Return fraud cost retailers $103bn in 2024, and it is rarely one store's problem.

Source: U.S. Department of JusticeRead more→

Illustration of a shopping basket on a checkout belt with an extra purple price tag the shopper never added

First-Party FraudJuly 13, 2026·6 min read

Honest Shoppers Are Already Paying for Friendly Fraud

Friendly fraud is rising for 83% of enterprise merchants, and 38% now let chargeback costs shape their prices. The people paying are the customers who never disputed a thing.

Source: Chargebacks911, 2026 Chargeback Field ReportRead more→