UK shoppers top European league for refund abuse – BRC warns everyone pays the price
Refundjacking – everyday shoppers taking advantage of merchants’ refund policies for personal gain – is fast becoming one of ecommerce’s most serious and underestimated threats.
New research from fraud prevention platform Ravelin reveals more than one in four consumers (27%) openly admit to abusing refund policies. A staggering 98% of those who attempt it get away with it.
Of the major European markets surveyed, the UK has the biggest problem. Over a third (37%) of UK consumers have engaged in, or plan to engage in, refund abuse – higher than both France (33%) and Germany (25%).
What was once opportunistic behaviour is now embedded. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of refund abusers say they are doing it as often, or more often, than in previous years. This rises to 69% in the UK, which is again higher than France (55%) and Germany (56%).
It is these frequent abusers who pose the biggest risk to retailers – the more often consumers attempt refund abuse, the more they gain financially.
The research shows occasional abusers (once per year) report earning an average of €/£390 per claim, but the most frequent abusers (4+ attempts per year) gain an average of €/£491 per claim.
In other words, the most frequent abusers cost merchants more because they offend more often, and each offence brings a higher financial reward.
The findings point to a worrying shift in consumer behaviour: dishonesty is no longer hidden or accidental, but increasingly normalised and openly discussed.
Typically, this behaviour involves customers gaming refund and returns policies – falsely claiming goods never arrived, returning items after using them, or sending back empty boxes or dummy returns while keeping the original product.
The British Retail Consortium’s policy advisor for finance, Chris Owen, said: “The growth of refund abuse is putting unnecessary financial drain on retailers at a time when margins are already under intense pressure. The result is lost revenue and higher costs, meaning everyone ends up paying more. It’s a serious problem which requires serious attention. The BRC is working with our members and others to tackle this growing problem.”
“This is no longer a fringe behaviour,” said Martin Sweeney, CEO of Ravelin. “Our research shows refund abuse becoming more prevalent and normalised. People aren’t sneaking around the edges of policy anymore – they’re openly breaking the rules, sharing tips on how to cheat the system, and justifying it as fair game. Merchants face a challenge to balance great experiences for good customers, while discouraging or blocking abusive behaviours.”
AI is accelerating refund abuse and making it harder to detect
Almost a third (32%) of those who have engaged in refund abuse report using mainstream AI tools to obtain a fraudulent or fake refund by automating letters to customer service or generating fake images to falsify evidence.
A quarter of UK consumers (25%) say they use AI tools to specifically learn techniques and tips for securing fraudulent refunds.
How merchants can fight back
Despite the scale of the issue, many ecommerce brands continue to rely on blanket responses. By tightening policies across the board, merchants risk making shopping harder for all customers and undermining brand loyalty.
75% of shoppers polled in the Ravelin study agree that those who abuse refund policies make online shopping less pleasant or less convenient for honest customers.
Making the right judgment call on refund abuse can be difficult. The research suggests many refund abusers would desist if merchants were tougher with them.
Refund abusers, and those considering it, say merchants could persuade them to stop if they threaten police action (21%), ban them entirely (19%), or directly message them about their activity (18%).
These are drastic interventions. For Ravelin, the most effective line of defence is a deeper and more detailed understanding of all customer behaviour.
Sweeney added: “The most efficient response involves using your own data to your advantage. The better a merchant understands the different cohorts of refund abusers, the more they can tailor their approaches to the problem. Blanket rules treat every customer as a risk – and that simply doesn’t work anymore.
“Retailers need to focus on behaviour, intent and patterns over time. When you target abuse more intelligently, you protect revenue without undermining the shopping experience for everyone else – and that’s the balance the industry now has to strike.”
Read the State of Refund Abuse Report 2026