Growing problem with criminal customers in e-commerce

E-commerce worldwide is suffering from a growing number of fraudulent customers.

According to an analysis by US cybersecurity service provider LexisNexis Risk Solutions, both the economic downturn and organised crime contribute to this. International gangs are reportedly targeting and recruiting people to commit online shopping fraud or provide their identities to criminals.

The company operates a “Digital Identity Network” to verify online identities and purchases. The analysis was based on 116 billion transactions last year.

Organised gangs have discovered e-commerce

Genuine customers, as opposed to perpetrators who use stolen or fake identities or commit other forms of fraud, reportedly accounted for 38.8 percent of all fraud cases worldwide in 2025. This is almost two percentage points more than the previous year. In Europe, the rate of these so-called first-party fraud cases is now almost 52 percent.

“On the one hand, the crisis is driving some people to look for opportunities to commit fraud,” says Jason Lane-Sellers, a cyber fraud expert at the company. “There are also groups that are specifically targeted by criminals, such as people with poor credit ratings or students. The perpetrators pay an extra 50 euros and instruct them.”

Some are unknowingly involved

This also affects German e-commerce. A spokesperson for the e-commerce association BEVH confirms the British cyber expert's assessment: “It is indeed the case that students or pensioners are recruited for the scam. Many do not even know they are supposed to be part of a scam, but simply receive an offer of money in exchange for providing their data.”

Fraud is a growing and significant problem, says Bernd Ohlmann, spokesperson for the Bavarian trade association (HBE). “E-commerce is booming and continues to grow this year. There are some who want to take a piece of the pie, and not just in a legal way.”

A common scam involves goods delivered on account or credit not being paid for, or being claimed as never ordered. “People who order the latest trainers and then claim the goods never arrived, or that they never placed the order,” says Lane-Sellers.

Favourable credit offers an incentive for criminals

This also affects the financial sector, which attracts customers with favourable credit offers: “It is now possible to order expensive mobile phones with a two-year credit agreement and no down payment,” says the expert. “Many of these attacks affect financial service providers. We see the biggest impact on services like buy now, pay later and one or two-year credit agreements.”

According to Lane-Sellers, it is also common for dishonest buyers to demand a refund for goods they claim were not delivered. “As long as a company cannot prove that a customer has intentionally committed fraud, it is very difficult to dispute fraudulent refund claims.”

The burden of proof lies with the retailer, as HBE spokesperson Ohlmann also states. Goods obtained through online fraud, or stolen from a brick and mortar shop, often end up back online. “Stolen goods are sold off en masse online,” says Ohlmann.

The increase in fraud cases by genuine customers does not mean that identity theft or the criminal takeover of online accounts are in decline. In this respect, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions, gangs are now more frequently shifting their attacks to desktop computers.

Companies can read more signals and data in mobile apps, which potentially allows for better security profiles for fraud detection, says Lane-Sellers. “Meanwhile, customers may believe that traditional desktop computers are more secure for higher-value transactions than their mobile devices.”

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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