Some companies processing returned televisions for retailers have gotten a surprise when opening the boxes — packaging filled with bricks rather than newly purchased TVs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Others examining returned purchases of purported luxury goods are instead finding counterfeits sent in by customers looking for refunds on full-price, deluxe merchandise. The tactics are part of what logistics experts say is a growing problem for retailers as the overall rate of returns surges. More of those goods are coming back as fraudulent returns, retailers say, including merchandise that has been outright stolen or sent back using fake receipts. The National Retail Federation estimates more than $100 billion in merchandise was returned fraudulently in the U.S. in 2023. That amounted to about 13.7% of the overall returned goods retailers received last year, more than twice the level of bogus returns in 2020, according to a report from the NRF, which noted its methodology changed in 2023 to include customer returns data from software provider Appriss Retail. Shoppers this year are expected to return about 15% of merchandise purchased during the holiday season, valued at $148 billion, according to the NRF. Retailers anticipate nearly 17% of those returns will be fraudulent. (Subscription required.)
