How Does ClearSale Help Retailers Combat Fraud Schemes?

Retailers are no strangers to fraud. But the way scammers operate today is more sophisticated — and more damaging — than ever before. From refund abuse to brand impersonation, these threats aren’t just annoying. They’re expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous for both retailers and their customers.

ClearSale has spent over 20 years helping businesses prevent fraud. Now, with specialized solutions for Cyber Threat Intelligence and Brand Protection, we’re helping retailers go even further — stopping fraud before it happens and protecting brands where it matters most.

The New Face of Retail Fraud

Retailers are dealing with a wide range of fraud schemes, and most of them aren’t easy to detect:

• Credit card fraud. In general, fraud involving credit cards is related to the use of stolen cards to make purchases. Scammers can also use techniques such as skimming to steal credit card information from payment terminals.
• Identity fraud. Scammers can use stolen personal information to open accounts or make purchases in the name of another person, including online and offline identity theft.
• Coupon fraud. This scam occurs when customers use fake, duplicate or expired coupons to illicitly obtain discounts.
• Money laundering. In some cases, retail businesses can be used as part of a money-laundering plan in which illicit funds are “cleaned” through seemingly legitimate transactions.
• Refund fraud: Scammers order expensive products, then claim they never arrived and demand a refund — all while keeping the merchandise.
• Counterfeit and unauthorized resale: Imitation products and unauthorized listings pop up across marketplaces, cutting into sales and damaging trust.
• Guarantee fraud. This scam includes falsification of documents or information to obtain inappropriate guarantees or reimbursements for products that are, in fact, not defective.
• Phishing and brand impersonation: Fake websites and social media profiles trick customers into handing over their personal data.
• Internal theft. This can happen when retail employees are involved in fraudulent activities such as inventory embezzlement, the direct robbery of cash or merchandise, and the manipulation of accounting records.

These threats often work together. A fraudster who buys stolen credentials on a Telegram group might use them to place orders under someone else’s name — or create a lookalike site to gather even more data. It’s a cycle that can get out of control fast.

What ClearSale Does Differently

Retailers typically use fraud filters and manual reviews to fight fraud. Those tools are important, but they’re not built to handle everything happening outside your own storefront — like fake listings, phishing pages or leaked credentials floating around the dark web.

That’s where ClearSale steps in.

Brand Protection: Stop Impersonators in Their Tracks

ClearSale’s Brand Protection platform scans websites, marketplaces and social media for anything that misuses your brand — fake ads, fake profiles or counterfeit listings.

When it finds a threat, it doesn’t just alert you. It takes action.

ClearSale handles the takedown process directly, working with platform providers to remove the content as quickly as possible. In most cases, retailers never have to get involved. The result: fewer scams, less confusion for your customers, and stronger control over how your brand shows up online.

Cyber Threat Intelligence: See the Threats Before They Hit

Our CTI platform looks beyond the surface. It monitors forums, chat apps like Telegram and Discord, and other channels where scammers plan and share attacks.

The system identifies leaked credentials, exposed payment data, and conversations about your brand or platform — then connects the dots to give you a clearer picture of what’s coming. If a fraud ring is targeting your business, you’ll know about it.

And if you want deeper insight? ClearSale’s expert team can step in to investigate specific threats, map out how the fraud works, and help you close the gaps that scammers are exploiting.

Real-World Results: Intelligence on Threats Against Fraudulent Reimbursement Requests

A recent case involving a leading global retailer had a significant impact upon the market, and it serves as a warning for ecommerce companies. Scammers who ordered high-ticket articles subsequently requested reimbursement, generating significant losses through the sale of the lost articles and the funds paid out in reimbursement.

When the company began working with ClearSale, our Cyber Threat Intelligence solution was crucial in both conducting the research to identify the nature and origin of the fraud as well as combating the scammers, thus avoiding significant losses. Using Cyber Threat Intelligence, our experts investigated the modus operandi and identified the primary risk events and vulnerabilities the scammers were exploiting.

In this way, ClearSale supported this client by strengthening fraud rules, identifying and banning over 100 fraudulent accounts, and generating over $17,000 in direct cost savings related to ecommerce fraud. Without a doubt, these results emphasize the efficacy of the ClearSale solutions in combating fraud and protecting retailers.

Why You Should Be Concerned About Your Business

Fraud doesn’t always show up as a red flag. Sometimes it’s a fake Instagram page using your logo. Sometimes it’s a stolen credit card number for sale on a Telegram channel. And sometimes it’s a refund request that seems innocent — until it keeps happening.

These aren’t one-off issues. They’re signals. And if you’re not looking for them, you’re missing critical pieces of the picture.

If your brand is seeing strange chargebacks, fake listings or customer complaints that don’t quite add up, it might be time to look deeper. ClearSale’s Cyber Threat Intelligence solution helps you find threats early, take action fast and keep your business a step ahead.

Learn more about what Cyber Threat Intelligence can do for your business.