Retailers estimate that 13.97 percent of the returns made throughout the year without a receipt are fraudulent and, as a result, nearly three-quarters (73.7%) now require customers returning items without a receipt to show identification; 12.3 percent of retailers require customers making returns with a receipt to show ID, and more than one-quarter (26.3%) say they do not require identification during the return process.

When asked about return fraud and the various types of tender, almost half (49.1%) say they have witnessed an increase in gift cards/store merchandise credit fraud in the past year. One in five (19.6%) say they have seen a decrease in the fraudulent use of cash, but more than a quarter (26.8%) have seen an increase; half report no change (48.2%).

Additionally, three in 10 (29.1%) say they’ve witnessed an increase in credit card fraud, 18.2 percent say those incidents have decreased and more than half (52.7%) say there’s no change from last year. This is the first time NRF has asked about tender fraud and changes.

On a scale of one to five, one being not at all effective, retailers rank their current policies at 3.55 in terms of being effective in deterring return fraud.

NRF’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey polled senior loss prevention executives at 62 retail companies in October and November, 2013. Executives from discount stores, department stores, drug stores, supermarkets and specialty stores completed the survey.

National Retail Federation