Global e-commerce fraud losses reached $48 billion last year. Payment card fraud was involved in nearly half of all incidents, while fake store websites accounted for 41% of reported shopping fraud.
Key Takeaways
- 48% of online shopping fraud involved payment card fraud in 2023.
- Account takeover (ATO) represented 30% of e-commerce fraud in 2023.
- Phishing scams targeted 62% of online shoppers in 2023 surveys.
- Global e-commerce fraud losses reached $48 billion in 2023.
- US consumers lost $10.3 billion to online shopping scams in 2023.
- UK online payment fraud cost retailers £1.7 billion in 2023.
- In 2023, online shopping fraud accounted for 35% of all reported cyber fraud incidents worldwide, with over 1.2 million cases documented.
- Globally, e-commerce fraud attempts increased by 22% year-over-year in 2023, reaching 12.5 billion attempts.
- In the US, 1 in every 52 online transactions was flagged as fraudulent in Q4 2023.
- E-commerce fraud projected to reach $130 billion losses by 2025.
- AI-driven fraud detection to block 99% attempts by 2027 forecast.
- Mobile commerce fraud to comprise 65% of total by 2025.
- 65+ age group represented 40% of online shopping fraud victims in 2023.
- Women filed 55% of online shopping fraud complaints in US 2023.
- Millennials (25-40) suffered 42% of global e-commerce fraud losses 2023.
In 2023, payment card and ATO fraud led e commerce losses, fueled by phishing, fake stores, and rising bot attacks.
Related reading
01 · Category
Common Methods/Types21 stats
01
48% of online shopping fraud involved payment card fraud in 2023.
02
Account takeover (ATO) represented 30% of e-commerce fraud in 2023.
03
Phishing scams targeted 62% of online shoppers in 2023 surveys.
04
Friendly fraud or chargeback fraud made up 32% of disputes in 2023.
05
Triangulation fraud, using stolen cards via fake stores, rose 25% in 2023.
06
Fake store websites accounted for 41% of shopping fraud reports 2023.
07
SMS phishing (smishing) for shopping deals increased 150% in 2023.
08
Malware-based card stealers hit 2.8 million shopping sites in 2023.
09
Promo abuse and coupon fraud cost merchants $2 billion in 2023.
10
Bot-driven fake account creation for fraud was 55% of attempts 2023.
11
Email spoofing for fake order confirmations tricked 28% victims 2023.
12
Return fraud in online shopping hit $101 billion globally in 2023.
13
Gift card fraud drained $217 million US reports in 2023 shopping scams.
14
Social media marketplace scams comprised 22% of fraud types 2023.
15
Velocity checks bypassed in 18% of high-volume fraud attacks 2023.
16
Deepfake voice scams for shopping verification rose 300% in 2023.
17
Third-party login fraud via OAuth exploits 15% of cases 2023.
18
Digital injection skimming on checkout pages 12% prevalence 2023.
19
BNPL first-party fraud schemes increased 40% in 2023.
20
Headless browser evasion of CAPTCHAs in 35% bot fraud 2023.
21
Supply chain fraud via compromised vendors 8% of incidents 2023.
Interpretation
Common Methods/Types Interpretation
Online fraudsters in 2023 demonstrated a portfolio of scams so aggressively diversified that if they applied this creativity to legitimate business, they'd probably own the entire internet by now.
02 · Category
Financial Losses30 stats
01
Global e-commerce fraud losses reached $48 billion in 2023.
02
US consumers lost $10.3 billion to online shopping scams in 2023.
03
UK online payment fraud cost retailers £1.7 billion in 2023.
04
Median loss per online shopping fraud victim was $500in 2023 US.
05
Chargeback fraud losses for global merchants hit $121 billion in 2023.
06
Australian online shoppers lost AUD 1.1 billion to scams in 2023.
07
European e-commerce fraud losses totaled €25 billion in 2023.
08
India reported ₹1.25 lakh crore losses from online fraud in 2023.
09
Brazil e-commerce fraud caused R$5.2 billion in losses 2023.
10
Canadian losses from online shopping fraud reached CAD 600 million in 2023.
11
SME merchants worldwide lost $5.8 billion to account takeover fraud in 2023.
12
Global friendly fraud claims cost $110 billion in disputed transactions 2023.
13
US seniors lost $3.4 billion to online shopping and gift card scams in 2023.
14
Black Friday 2023 fraud losses estimated at $13 billion globally.
15
Payment fraud in APAC e-commerce hit $41 billion in 2023.
16
Latin America online fraud losses surged to $8.7 billion in 2023.
17
China reported CNY 100 billion in e-commerce fraud losses 2023.
18
Africa-wide online shopping fraud losses exceeded $1.2 billion in 2023.
19
Average chargeback cost per incident was $250for merchants in 2023.
20
Middle East e-commerce fraud losses reached $4.5 billion in 2023.
21
US millennials lost $2.1 billion to online shopping fraud in 2023.
22
Global BNPL fraud losses hit $2.3 billion in 2023.
23
Insurance claims for online fraud payouts totaled $15 billion worldwide 2023.
24
Merchant recovery rate from fraud was only 12% on average in 2023.
25
Cyber insurance for e-commerce fraud covered $7.8 billion claims in 2023.
26
Digital wallet fraud losses grew to $9.2 billion globally in 2023.
27
Account takeover fraud cost banks $6.5 billion in shopping-related claims 2023.
28
Triangulation fraud losses estimated at $3.1 billion worldwide 2023.
29
Refund abuse in e-commerce led to $4.7 billion losses in 2023.
30
Phishing for shopping credentials caused $11 billion losses in 2023.
Interpretation
Financial Losses Interpretation
The sheer scale of global online shopping fraud in 2023 paints a grim portrait of a digital marketplace where, for every handshake, there's a hidden hand in your pocket, pilfering not just billions but the very trust that makes e-commerce possible.
03 · Category
Incidence and Prevalence30 stats
01
In 2023, online shopping fraud accounted for 35% of all reported cyber fraud incidents worldwide, with over 1.2 million cases documented.
02
Globally, e-commerce fraud attempts increased by 22% year-over-year in 2023, reaching 12.5 billion attempts.
03
In the US, 1 in every 52 online transactions was flagged as fraudulent in Q4 2023.
04
UK online retail fraud losses rose to £1.18 billion in 2023, a 17% increase from 2022.
05
Mobile shopping fraud incidents surged 28% in 2023, comprising 45% of total e-commerce fraud.
06
In 2023, 68% of online shoppers encountered at least one fraudulent attempt during purchases.
07
E-commerce fraud detection rates improved to 92% in 2023, but still 8% of attempts succeeded.
08
Cross-border online shopping fraud grew 41% in 2023, affecting 15% of international transactions.
09
In Q3 2023, Amazon reported blocking 200 million suspected fraudulent accounts.
10
Social commerce platforms saw a 300% rise in fraud incidents from 2021 to 2023.
11
2023 saw 4.5 million phishing attacks targeting online shoppers globally.
12
In Europe, online shopping fraud reports increased 25% to 750,000 in 2023.
13
Australia recorded 78,000 online shopping scam reports in 2023, up 18%.
14
India faced 1.3 million online fraud cases related to shopping in 2023.
15
Brazil's online fraud incidents hit 2.1 million in 2023, a record high.
16
Canada saw 45% growth in e-commerce fraud to 120,000 cases in 2023.
17
Japan reported 300,000 online shopping frauds in 2023, up 20%.
18
South Korea's online fraud rate reached 1.2% of transactions in 2023.
19
In 2023, 55% of global online fraud originated from organized crime rings.
20
Peak shopping season (Black Friday) saw 5x average fraud attempts in 2023.
21
2023 data shows 22% of fraudsters used stolen credentials for shopping scams.
22
Global online fraud detection bypassed rate was 3.7% in 2023.
23
In 2023, 40% of SMEs experienced online shopping fraud attempts weekly.
24
Nigeria recorded 500,000+ online shopping fraud cases in 2023.
25
Russia saw 15% decline in reported online fraud due to underreporting.
26
Southeast Asia e-commerce fraud hit 800,000 incidents in 2023.
27
In 2023, 75% of fraud attempts targeted high-value electronics purchases.
28
US online shopping fraud reports totaled 800,000 in 2023 per IC3.
29
Worldwide, friendly fraud in e-commerce rose to 32% of disputes in 2023.
30
2023 holiday fraud attempts peaked at 1 billion globally in December.
Interpretation
Incidence and Prevalence Interpretation
The digital marketplace's booming success in 2023 was a siren call to fraudsters, who decided to shoplift at a global scale, turning nearly every other click into a potential scam while proving that even our best digital bouncers still let a few troublemakers slip through the velvet rope.
More related reading
04 · Category
Trends and Projections27 stats
01
E-commerce fraud projected to reach $130 billion losses by 2025.
02
AI-driven fraud detection to block 99% attempts by 2027 forecast.
03
Mobile commerce fraud to comprise 65% of total by 2025.
04
Global fraud attempts expected to hit 20 billion annually by 2027.
05
BNPL fraud to grow 50% yearly through 2026 projections.
06
Voice biometrics to reduce ATO fraud by 80% by 2025.
07
Cryptocurrency shopping scams to rise 200% by 2025.
08
Real-time payments to cut fraud losses 30% by 2027.
09
Social commerce fraud projected at $10 billion losses by 2025.
10
Machine learning fraud rings to evolve 40% faster by 2026.
11
Passkeys adoption to slash credential stuffing 70% by 2025.
12
Metaverse shopping fraud risks to emerge with $50B market 2026.
13
3DS 2.2 to prevent 85% unauthorized transactions by 2025.
14
Ransomware targeting e-commerce up 150% by 2025 projections.
15
Zero-trust architecture to mitigate 60% supply chain fraud by 2026.
16
Fraud-as-a-Service marketplaces to double by 2025 dark web data.
17
Biometric fraud attempts to rise 300% with deepfakes by 2027.
18
Edge computing to speed fraud detection 50% by 2025.
19
Regulatory fines for fraud breaches to hit $20B annually 2026.
20
Quantum-safe encryption needed by 2030 for shopping security.
21
Voice shopping assistants fraud vulnerability up 100% by 2025.
22
Decentralized identity to cut ATO 90% by 2027 blockchain forecast.
23
AR try-on scams projected for 20% fashion e-comm fraud 2026.
24
Global fraud prevention spend to reach $50B by 2028.
25
NFC contactless fraud to stabilize at 0.5% by 2025.
26
Hyper-personalization to boost targeted scams 25% by 2026.
27
E-commerce fraud losses per $1,000sales to drop to $6 by 2027.
Interpretation
Trends and Projections Interpretation
The future of online shopping is a high-stakes arms race where our AI defenders are getting sharper, but the fraudsters are multiplying like digital gremlins, forcing us to spend billions just to keep the losses from being astronomically worse.
05 · Category
Victim Demographics20 stats
01
65+ age group represented 40% of online shopping fraud victims in 2023.
02
Women filed 55% of online shopping fraud complaints in US 2023.
03
Millennials (25-40) suffered 42% of global e-commerce fraud losses 2023.
04
Low-income households (<$50k) were 2.5x more likely to be scammed 2023.
05
70% of fraud victims had prior online shopping experience over 5 years.
06
Urban residents reported 60% higher fraud rates than rural in 2023.
07
Gen Z (18-24) faced 28% bot-driven fraud targeting in 2023.
08
52% of repeat victims were over 50 years old in 2023 data.
09
College students lost $1.2 billion to textbook shopping scams 2023.
10
Hispanic consumers 1.8x more targeted in US shopping fraud 2023.
11
Baby boomers accounted for 35% of high-value fraud losses 2023.
12
45% of victims used mobile devices exclusively for shopping 2023.
13
First-time online buyers were 3x more susceptible in 2023 surveys.
14
Disabled individuals reported 22% higher victimization rates 2023.
15
Single parents lost average $800per incident, highest demographic 2023.
16
Veterans comprised 15% of fraud victims despite 7% population 2023.
17
LGBTQ+ community faced 1.4x average scam rates in shopping 2023.
18
Immigrants/new residents 2x likely to fall for fake deals 2023.
19
Unemployed seekers targeted via job-linked shopping scams 18% 2023.
20
High education (college+) counterintuitively 1.2x fraud risk 2023.
Interpretation
Victim Demographics Interpretation
The data paints a grimly comedic portrait of our digital marketplace, where scammers, acting as equal-opportunity predators, expertly exploit the specific vulnerabilities of every demographic, proving that in the online shopping jungle, no one—whether a seasoned boomer, a cash-strapped student, or a tech-savvy millennial—is safe from their cunning.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Isabelle Moreau. (2026, February 13). Online Shopping Fraud Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/online-shopping-fraud-statistics
MLA
Isabelle Moreau. "Online Shopping Fraud Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/online-shopping-fraud-statistics.
Chicago
Isabelle Moreau. 2026. "Online Shopping Fraud Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/online-shopping-fraud-statistics.
Sources & references
76 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
aboutamazon.com
akamai.com
shopify.com