In late 2020 Signifyd surveyed 1,500 US consumers and 1,500 UK consumers about their buying habits. The responses to the surveys conducted during the first two weeks of September were in sharp contrast to Signifyd’s pre-pandemic survey. In January, before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country and the world, only 8.1% of consumers said that they had made a false claim that an e-commerce order was never delivered in order to keep the product and land a refund. The survey from September revealed that over a third of participants admitted to committing ‘Friendly Fraud’.
Here are some key findings from the report:
- Nearly 36% of UK consumers commit friendly fraud regarding missing packages.
- 32.1% of UK respondents admitted to breaking discount or promotion rules in order to receive a price break they were not entitled to.
- In the US 40.3% of consumers said they asked for a refund because of a fraudulent charge when in fact they knew no fraud had been committed. In the UK, the number was 36.1%.
- In the US, 60.4% of consumers said they would be spending less this year compared to 66.7% of UK respondents said they would be spending less due to the effects of covid-19 on income.
- In the UK, 47.9% of respondents said a year from now they’d be shopping differently than they were a year ago, because they’d be relying more heavily on click-and-collect.
- In the US, 60.1% said they expected to continue to more heavily use buy online, pick up in-store or at the curb.
“We’ve been seeing friendly fraud increase a lot lately,” said Ryan Bermudez, Signifyd director of customer success, east. “I think the pandemic has caused a lot of hard times for a lot of people and that financial pressure seems to be leading to people’s moral compasses being recalibrated.”
Signifyd data shows that the number of friendly fraud chargebacks filed for “item not received” have skyrocketed since the pandemic was declared in March. They were up 54% in September compared to January this year.
The two surveys were conducted by market research firm Upwave. Together, the surveys paint a picture of consumers who are concerned about their finances and worried about venturing into stores to shop — including during the upcoming holiday season.
Nearly 60% of US respondents said their income has been adversely or very adversely affected by the covid-19 pandemic and 59.5% said they worried about losing some or all of their income in the coming year.
The UK numbers were similar, with 53.9% saying their income had already been harmed by the pandemic and 55.2% saying they worried that they would lose all or some of their income in the coming year. Not surprisingly then, 66.7% of UK respondents said they would be spending less on holiday items this year compared to last year.
In the US, 60.4% of consumers said they would be spending less this year.
The full report can be found here: https://www.signifyd.com/blog/2020/09/29/friendly-fraud-rising-survey-says/
