Fraudulent Holiday Returns Expected to Rise in 2013

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone. Overall, 5.8 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6 percent last night.

According to the National Retail Federation's 2013 Return Fraud Survey, nearly all (94.8 percent) of retailers polled say they have experienced the return of stolen merchandise in the last year, and 69 percent report that they have experienced the return of merchandise purchased on fraudulent or stolen tender. Also, 29.3 percent have found criminals using counterfeit receipts to return merchandise.