Combating Return Fraud: How Merchants are Leveraging New Data Inputs to Modernize Return Strategies

Return fraud continues to be a growing challenge for merchants, driving meaningful financial losses and operational complexity across the ecosystem. As return volumes increase, merchants are seeking ways to better balance fraud risk management with a seamless customer experience for trusted shoppers. In this session, Mastercard will explore the evolving return fraud landscape, highlight key data trends shaping return behavior, and introduce Return Risk Intelligence. Built using Mastercard’s network level view of transactions, disputes, and reported fraud, Return Risk Intelligence delivers real time insights through existing authorization flows to complement merchants’ current fraud tools and return policies. Since 2025, Mastercard has collaborated with merchants, issuers, and acquirers to develop Return Risk Intelligence as part of a broader effort to bring greater transparency and consistency to return risk assessment. Attendees will hear from MA and a leading U.S. merchant on how Return Risk Intelligence can enhance a merchants’ returns strategy.