Nearly half of credit card consumers have been victims of fraud, according to a survey conducted by Riskified, an e-commerce fraud prevention company.
The survey that questioned 5,000 American shoppers over 18 revealed that 49% of the respondents said they experienced credit card fraud, claiming that another person illegally used their card information. Also, 49% of the polled customers said they did not return to the merchant after the fraud incident while 30% claimed the retailer wrongly declined their purchase.
The Riskified poll found that 29% of the respondents blame the retailer who approved the charges for the fraud.
Customers are not the only ones showed caution on the massive and widespread fraud. These incidents of fraud also affected the sales of retailers. Merchants usually reject orders out of caution as reflected in the previous poll conducted by Riskified. In that survey, researchers found that fear of fraud is more damaging than the scam itself as retailers decline good customers without the right assessment. This study showed 57% of the declines took place to return customers on the fear of being scammers. As a result, around 42% of shoppers whom merchants declined moved on, either by forgoing the purchase (28%) or shopping with a competitor (14%).
Eyal Raab, Riskified’s vice president of business development, admitted that any single retailer has difficulty to manage their fraud effectively. He also advised merchants to make accurate business decisions, especially on improving fraud detection, and approve good orders to boost current revenue, but also to ensure happier, more loyal customers.
Australians Too
US consumers are not the only ones victimized by massive credit card fraud. In a report by finder.com.au — an Australian consumer comparison website — revealed that “card-not-present” fraud in Australia rose by 76% within 12 months ending on 30 June 2018, costing Australians $249 million. Angus Kidman, editor-in-chief at finder.com.au, said that while banks use sophisticated systems to protect their consumers, the system is not flawless. Cardholders still need vigilance in using their credit cards.
