Some 93% of online retailers in Germany have been affected by fraud or attempted fraud, a new report by the Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e.V. (bevh) and CRIF has found.
According to the study, which surveyed online retailers between June and August 2026, close to half (48%) had experienced an increase in fraud cases, while 37% said that fraud remained at a ‘high’ level. Just 15% of respondents reported a decline in fraud levels.
‘More important than ever’
“Fraud prevention is more important than ever,” commented Dr. Frank Schlein, managing director of CRIF Germany. “Anyone running an online shop must expect to become a victim of fraud.
“The fight against fraud is increasingly becoming a ‘hare and tortoise’ game between retailers and fraudsters, with new scams and countermeasures emerging at ever shorter intervals. Artificial intelligence will further intensify the complexity of the phenomenon and this race.”
As the study found, identity theft accounted for 75% of reported fraud cases, while manipulation of names and addresses affected 67% of retailers and the use of completely false identities affected 55%.
Six in ten retailers reported cases where customers denied receiving goods, while ‘acceptance fraud’, where customers order despite knowing they cannot or will not pay, affected 57% of retailers.
Elsewhere, account takeover was reported by 56% of companies, while 47% had experienced return fraud involving empty packages and 42% had encountered ‘switch fraud’, where a different item is returned from the one purchased. Stolen payment data, including credit card information, accounted for 40% of reported cases.
‘Increasingly sophisticated’
Martin Große-Albenhausen, deputy managing director, bevh, said that criminals are now using “increasingly sophisticated fraud methods”, adding, “To maintain trust in remote commerce, merchants must work with ever more data. In the age of AI, more data means better differentiation between trustworthy and fraudulent transactions and the early detection of new fraud patterns.”
The financial impact varied from retailer to retailer – a quarter of respondents estimated their annual fraud losses at less than €5,000, while 45% reported annual losses of between €10,001 and €100,000. Around 15% said their annual losses exceeded €100,000.
Individual incidents also resulted in substantial losses, with 32% of retailers reporting losses of more than €2,500 from a single order and 18% recording losses between €1,001 and €2,500.
At the same time, retailers are increasingly investing in fraud prevention. Three quarters of respondents already use fraud detection measures, while a further 9% plan to invest in them. Among companies using fraud prevention, 93% combine manual and automated processes.
“With the rise of agentic commerce, where AI agents increasingly make purchasing decisions and conduct transactions independently on behalf of consumers, new fraud risks and requirements for identity and trust verification are emerging,” Schlein added.
“At the same time, companies must find the balance between maximum security and a seamless customer journey. This is precisely where competitive advantage and customer experience are determined today.” Read more here.
