Part One of this three article series defined Refund Fraud. Part Two of this series described specifically how this fraud is committed. Part Three? Can it be stopped? I was the first person that seriously attempted to warn merchants about this type of fraud. The first blog article I ever wrote was about Refund Fraud and how it was redefining cybercrime. There had been a couple of articles prior, but those writeups only mentioned Refund Fraud as a curiosity, nothing serious. At the start of my speaking career, I spoke about Refund Fraud at every opportunity. No one listened. I was heard, but n ..read more

Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt In 2020 everything changed because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. What initially seemed to be happening to other people elsewhere, impacted globally and severely in the UK - with the UK government imposing an unprecedented lockdown on the public to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed. There was no pretence that the economy would not adversely suffer or a definitive duration for the lockdown. The words ‘uncharted territory’ and ‘unprecedented’ became universal across government and business. Various actions were taken to support individuals and businesses. Whether we bel ..read more

I’m hammering away at the keys, knocking out a blog for Arkose Labs. First week on the job as CCO, Chief Criminal Officer. A title like that means better not roll with some vanilla topic. A title like that means go big or go home. Groovy. I can do that. I just gotta get the right format for the blog. I’ve went through several drafts and styles, not thrilled with any. I’m thinking alcohol might help. Or a round of Street Fighter. Then I get a knock at the door. David stands at the door to my office, smiling. “What are you doing?” he asks. “Blog. For Arkose.” I answer. “Sweet! Big CCO in the ho ..read more

Part One of this three article series defined Refund Fraud. Part Two? This is where the pavement meets the road. How specifically are these crimes committed? Whereas there wasn’t a lot of interest in Refund Fraud a couple of years ago from merchants and security people? Today it is the cat’s pajamas. Fraudsters are making a lot of money committing the crime and consultants and security companies are making a lot of money trying to sell products and services to the merchants being victimized. Before we start? A word. A few things I’ve noticed to which I take exception: First: I don’t believe i ..read more

It started with Amazon 2014. On Evolution Marketplace, the biggest darkweb forum and market on the planet at the time, some members started bragging about profiting $10,000 a month doing refund fraud through Amazon. Consensus of other Evolution members? Bullshit. No one makes that through refunding. Refunding is technically illegal, so you have to play it safe. You can not do 10x 10.000 EUR orders every day. You have to make sure the company does not catch on to you doing refunds, as it costs them money. Technically it is possible, but it requires a lot of experience and almost no mistakes. P ..read more