Swiss online retailers increasingly hit by fraudsters
A survey of online retailers in Switzerland has shown that losses due to customer fraud are growing – though most scams involve relatively small amounts of money.
The survey published on Wednesday by the Crif risk managementExternal link firmExternal link shows that some 92% of the online retailers polled had experienced online fraud at least once over the past year.
And though most losses were reported to be quite low at under CHF5,000 ($5,012), overall financial costs were higher than in last year’s survey, Crif noted. Larger-scale scams of between CHF10,000 and CHF100,000 were also up.
The most common method of fraud was when customers ordered products online even when they knew they did not have the credit to afford them. The next most frequent was customers buying goods and giving false information.
Identity fraud and the use of stolen credit cards were also reported to be growing phenomena.
Retailers are well aware of the spreading practices, with more than 95% of those surveyed saying they take measures to detect fraud. For example, 62% have their own ‘blacklists’, while 24% use fraud filters. Some large online merchants even have their own “fraud prevention teams”.
The increase in online fraud comes hand in hand with an overall increase in online shopping by Swiss consumers, some half of whom reported shopping online “regularly” at the end of 2017.
More
More
Numbers of Swiss online shoppers continue to rise
This content was published on
The level of Swiss consumers shopping online has increased over the past year to almost one in two, a new survey has found.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
This content was published on
The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.