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Fraudsters focus on how much money they can skim off businesses and their customers. Annually, e-commerce merchants lose about 3.2% in total revenue to payment fraud. While online shopping has transformed retail by making products more accessible, this convenience and efficiency can come at a high cost for retailers. Merchants are encountering e-commerce threats at an accelerating rate, especially as technology advances. Having solutions for this issue enables operational success. Continue reading to learn more about fraud-related trends and solutions to watch out for in 2025.
The Scams That Target Retail Systems
Account Takeovers
Scammers gain control of existing customer accounts and extract sensitive information or withdraw funds from them. Account takeover fraud affects over 38% of consumers and can happen through multiple e-commerce platforms. Unauthorized users can access these platforms to impersonate customers, open new bank accounts, or sell private data to interested third parties. Needless to say, this type of scam is detrimental to the integrity and reputation of a business.
Account takeovers can present in many ways, including:
Malware is any intrusive software that is designed to gain unauthorized access or damage a platform. For example, hackers use Trojans and viruses to infiltrate retail systems through third-party downloads from emails containing compromised attachments or links. Once unauthorized access is established, malware can extract credit details, personal credentials, and financial history—leaving point-of-sale (POS) systems exposed. Malicious software attacks do a great deal of harm to customer data and supply chain security because businesses are left vulnerable, with their operations at risk of shutting down.
Ransomware demands affect over 69% of retail companies. This happens when hackers gain access to sensitive business information, encrypt it, and request payment for decryption. Many companies will pay the demands to regain access to their systems, resulting in an average loss of $46,000, depending on the request per case.
Phishing trends commonly happen over email or text. This is when hackers send fraudulent messages to customers requesting any type of information, including donations or personal details. Scammers will typically attach a link or extra features to the message to trigger an automatic installation of malware once the user engages.
Credential cracking is possible when e-commerce platforms have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Cyberattackers use a variety of approaches to gain access to client and employee details, including malicious code injection, cookie tampering, and database query manipulation. Sometimes, 65% of the stolen credentials are sold off on forums within 24 hours after retrieval. Credential cracking is an alarming trend that can seriously damage a company’s ability to continue operating. It can lead merchants to lose customer support and employee trust.
Man-in-the-middle hacks happen when fraudsters find ways to intercept communication between a user and the application they want to access on an e-commerce platform. These hacks can involve WiFi hotspot traps that can steal credentials and account details immediately after customers connect.
Synthetic Identity Fraud
Unlike third-party invasions where personal details are taken and used to defraud businesses and their associates, synthetic identity theft often has no direct victim. It is a fast-growing trend in the U.S., that uses a combination of real and forged data to create a whole new account and commit fraud.
To carry out synthetic scams, fraudsters may use someone’s real social security number or employee identification details, but merge those with false names and addresses that are different from the genuine account. This type of invasion is dangerous because it is one of the most difficult scams for companies to detect and guard against.
Refund, Return, and Chargeback Schemes
Over half of e-commerce retailers internationally deal with refund fraud. It is a common type of deception that occurs when people pose as real customers requesting refunds for items they never bought. To build trust and mitigate situations, businesses can end up making those refunds, which leads to revenue losses.
On the other hand, return scams are directly linked to customers exploiting return policies by buying products with the sole purpose of using and returning them. This can lead to inventory issues and increase operational expenses.
Similarly, chargeback fraud happens when a customer orders a product and receives it, but falsely claims that the delivery did not arrive. With this scam, customers can also insinuate that payment for the product was cleared in an attempt to receive a refund.
The combined impact of refund, return, and chargeback schemes is detrimental to operations. Businesses can face major financial constraints and a negative merchant chargeback ratio, which can weaken a brand’s reputation.
Deepfake Scams
Hackers are increasingly taking advantage of AI tools to conduct highly sophisticated schemes. Deepfake scams are designed to deceive even the most cautious retailers and consumers by using AI to create convincing impersonations that present as reality. These scams combine phishing, synthetic identity theft, and other fraudulent activities to equip intruders with information to bypass e-commerce security systems.
Industries at the highest risk of deepfake scams include:
Crypto exchange and digital goods where infiltrators use AI robots that create fake credentials and instigate unauthorized transactions that can result in chargebacks and falsified returns.
E-commerce and subscriptions where deepfakes can engineer attacks by altering videos to trick companies into issuing refunds and approving returns.
Ways to Protect Against E-Commerce Intrusion
Adopt AI and Machine Learning
Businesses can use smart technology to detect and respond to fraudulent activity. AI is equipped with machine learning capabilities that enable retailers to analyze large data faster than any person, making it possible to identify breaches quickly. By adopting tech advances, companies can have a risk-adverse approach to operations that minimizes encounters with illegitimate accounts and blocks unauthorized access to valuable systems.
Engage in Cross-Industry Collaboration
To stay ahead of scammers, merchants should collaborate with other industry players to share fraud-detection details and best practices. Hackers operate in large groups, and they are on multiple platforms, so banding together gives businesses a better chance at identifying odd patterns. By strengthening collective defenses, retailers also gain valuable knowledge about new fraud trends, making it easier to guard against them.
Conduct Point-of-Sale Verification
Businesses can encrypt POS systems to prevent scams. When customers make a purchase, it is important to verify their identity through multi-factor authentication to add another layer of security. This enables verification to occur at different points before the user is granted access. For example, the system can prompt buyers to use two or more authentication methods, including inserting a password, entering biometric information, or using a security token.
By using POS verification, merchants prevent fraud and protect their business and customers from financial loss. A secure transaction process also builds trust with customers, which strengthens the retailer’s reputation for data protection.
Conclusion
Staying ahead of scammers requires preparation and agility, so retailers should take a dynamic approach to addressing 2025 fraud trends. With the right combination of solutions and technology, e-commerce can reinforce secure operations and maintain success.
