Retailers take $100B hit over bogus returns: 'Sent back box of bricks instead of TV'

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2024

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Retailers — already hard-hit by rampant shoplifting — are facing another threat to their bottom line from scammers who are stuffing bricks, fake receipts and counterfeit goods in return packages.

The fraudsters have targeted this retail underbelly to swipe billions of dollars by gaming the returns system, especially after the holiday season, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

More than $100 billion worth of goods was returned fraudulently in the US last year, which represented 13.7% of the returned goods retailers received — twice the level of fake returns in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation.

This year, the NRF is expecting fraudulent returns to reach 17% of all returned items.

Some people are sending back a box of bricks instead of a television set or returning a lower-priced item and slapping a higher priced tag on it, Gartner analyst Tom Enright told the Journal.

The brazen scammers are betting they can get a refund for mailing back a package as soon as the return shipping label is scanned by a delivery service and before the retailer can confirm the correct item is inside the box, industry experts told the publication.

Returned items are typically shipped to a warehouse, where the package may not be opened for several days.

Others are shipping counterfeit goods back to luxury retailers, hoping that theyll get a refund before the merchandise is tagged as fake.

This type of fraud is definitely becoming more and more of a concern to retailers, Amena Ali, chief executive of Optoro, a return service provider, told The Journal.

Part of the problem is that during the peak holiday season retailers rely on temporary staff, who may not be thoroughly trained to detect fraud, according to the report.

Some of the returned goods were items that were stolen from other stores, a thorny problem for big chains like Target and Dick’s that have called out organized retail theft as one of the biggest challenges they face.

Another common return fraud is called wardrobing, which involves sending a product back after its been used, according to the trade group.

Retailers have attempted to crack down on returns by charging fees, but that doesn’t serve as much of a deterrent against the newfangled scams.

Instead, the retailers are pushing more shoppers to bring their returns to the stores.

In-store returns seem to lead to much, much, much lower fraud than mail-in returns, Thomas Borders, a manager for for returns-service provider Inmar Intelligence, told the Journal.

Another returns-service provider, Pollen Returns, inspects merchandise that customers have left on their doorstep to send back — making it harder to pass off used goods as new for a refund, said Christian Piller, the companys chief commercial officer,.

If the package was supposed to contain a new pair of loafers and you put out your old New Balance shoes that you use to mow the lawn for five years … you cant conceal this inside of a box like you could for the traditional returns process, he told the Journal.

Environment

Fiat launches beachy Topolino Vilebrequin as Stellantis ramps up EV production

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

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Fiat launches beachy Topolino Vilebrequin as Stellantis ramps up EV production

Fiat Celebrates the Advent of Summer With the Topolino Vilebrequin, an Easygoing Beach Car

The Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin is a new beach town cruiser that captures the elegance, glamour, and relaxed vibe of the French Riviera. More significantly, the updated EV also heralds Stellantis’ plans to double EV production at its Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco.

Closer to a Mercury Villager Nautica or Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson than a new model on its own, the new Topolino Vilebrequin features colors and fabrics inspired by the French surfwear brand, and is based on the Dolcevita version of Stellantis’ electric microcar. With its open sides, a soft rollback roof, and turtle-tastic fabric prints, it’s ready to whisk you off on a carefree summer adventure in France or Italy – which are, coincidentally, the only two markets the “collector’s edition” Vilebrequin Topolino is currently available in.

“This encounter between the Fiat Topolino and our iconic sea turtle gave rise to a high-quality, lower-impact, and perfectly whimsical design,” says Roland Herlory, CEO of Vilebrequin. “(It is) the definitive summer toy, and the perfect witness to sun-soaked memories still to come.”

Like the standard Topolino, the new Vilebrequin model remains electronically limited to a top speed of 45 kph (just under 30 mph), and is equipped with a 5.5 kWh battery pack that ensures up to 75 km (about 45 miles) of electric range. Prices start at €13,490 ($15,810), and if you don’t want one you’re dead inside.

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Fiat Topolino Vilebrequin

The Vilebrequin Topolino is just the latest version of Stellantis’ electric microcar platform that underpins the Citroën Ami, Opel Rocks-e, and Fiat Topolino. Annual production of the little EVs has grown from 20,000 units and is reportedly on track for 70,000 in 2025.

Now, Mopar Insiders is reporting that number is about to get even bigger. Stellantis’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, Samir Cherfan, announced plans to more than double the production capacity at the company’s Kenitra Assembly Plant in Morocco, from some 230,000 vehicles per year to more than 530,000.

The factory was opened in 2019, and the planned €1.2 billion ($1.4B) expansion is expected to add around 3,100 new jobs to the factory’s employee roster.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Stellantis.

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Business

Lakeland-owner Hilco eyes swoop for stricken jeweller Claire’s

Published

4 hours ago

July 20, 2025

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Lakeland-owner Hilco eyes swoop for stricken jeweller Claire's

The prolific high street investor which owns Lakeland and has backed chains including HMV and Superdry is sizing up a takeover of the UK operations of Claire’s, the struggling jewellery chain.

Sky News understands that Hilco Capital, which was also one of the recent bidders for Poundland, is among the parties expected to submit offers for Claire’s in the coming weeks, according to banking sources.

Other parties expected to examine offers for Claire’s British chain, which trades from about 280 stores, would include Alteri Investors and Modella Capital, which recently bought WH Smith’s high street chain.

The Telegraph reported earlier this month that Claire’s had hired Interpath Advisory to find a buyer for the UK business as it explores options – including bankruptcy – for its US-based operations.

Prospective buyers of the business have been told that a sale of the British chain could lead to significant numbers of store closures.

One retail industry boss speculated that as many as a third of the UK shops could be axed in a deal to salvage the rest of the chain, potentially putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

Claire’s has been a fixture in British shopping centres and on high streets for decades.

Houlihan Lokey, the investment bank, is advising on the sale of the US arm.

Claire’s, which is reported to trade from 2,000 stores globally, is owned by former creditors Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital following a previous financial restructuring.

Hilco could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Politics

Embedding human rights into crypto isn’t optional, it’s foundational

Published

5 hours ago

July 20, 2025

admin

Embedding human rights into crypto isn’t optional, it’s foundational

Embedding human rights into crypto systems is a necessity. Self-custody, privacy-by-default, and censorship-resistant personhood must be core design principles for any technology. The future of digital freedom depends on it.