How to beat online sellers’ fastest growing problem: Chargeback fraud

More online sellers are becoming victims of mass fraudulent buying, new research from King’s Business School reveals. The researchers provide vital advice for users of e-commerce platforms like eBay on how to protect themselves.

Professor Stuart Barnes and his co-authors have created a conceptual plan that aims to reduce the huge losses online retailers suffer from chargeback fraud – which occurs when buyers claim a refund for purchased items without returning them, typically on the basis of unfounded excuses such as “items not delivered” or “transactions unauthorized”.

“With vast numbers of SMEs selling products and services online to buyers all over the world, Chargeback Fraud has become a growing and massive problem in global e-commerce. Billions of dollars are lost every year,” says Barnes, “yet existing research has focused on the notion that buyers are subject to opportunistic sellers.”