Amazon fraud against sellers covers any scheme that uses Amazon’s marketplace rules, return policies, or payment protections to take money or inventory from a legitimate business. The most damaging forms come from buyers and rival sellers rather than outside hackers. They include refund and return fraud, false A-to-z Guarantee claims, chargebacks on delivered orders, counterfeit listings, and review manipulation. Each one costs sellers revenue, inventory, or account health, and most can be prevented or contested when sellers know how the schemes work and keep the right evidence.
How Amazon Fraud Affects Sellers
Amazon protects shoppers generously, and fraudsters exploit that generosity. When a refund, claim, or dispute goes against a seller, the cost often includes the product, the shipping, the fees, and a hit to performance metrics. Amazon expects sellers to keep their Order Defect Rate below 1% of orders over a 60-day period, and A-to-z claims and some chargebacks count toward that limit. A run of fraudulent claims can push an otherwise healthy account toward suspension.
Amazon fights fraud at scale. Its 2025 Trustworthy Shopping Experience report says the company seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products in 2025 and has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals since 2020. Platform enforcement still leaves sellers responsible for defending their own orders and listings.
Common Types of Amazon Seller Fraud
Amazon seller fraud falls into a handful of patterns. The table below summarizes the most common ones and what each costs a business.
| Fraud type | How it works | Main cost to sellers |
|---|---|---|
| Refund and return fraud | Buyers return empty boxes, used items, or different products, or claim items never arrived | Lost inventory and refunded revenue |
| A-to-z Guarantee claim abuse | Buyers file false claims of non-delivery or items not as described | Refunds and Order Defect Rate damage |
| Chargeback fraud | Buyers dispute card charges for orders they received | Lost revenue, fees, and possible ODR impact |
| Counterfeits and listing hijacking | Unauthorized sellers attach to your listing and ship fakes | Lost sales, negative reviews, and brand damage |
| Review manipulation | Rivals post fake negative reviews or buy fake positive ones for their own products | Lower conversion and possible policy flags |
Phishing, fake support calls, and brushing round out the list of common Amazon scams that reach sellers through messages rather than orders. The sections below focus on fraud that targets orders, inventory, and listings.
Refund and Return Fraud on Amazon
Amazon return fraud is the most common seller-side problem because the return process favors the customer. Buyers can often start a return without contacting the seller, and refunds are sometimes issued before the item arrives back. The problem extends well beyond Amazon. Appriss Retail’s 2025 returns research found that about $100 billion of the $706 billion in merchandise returned in the U.S. in 2025 was lost to fraud and abuse.
Common Amazon Refund Scam Tactics
Sellers report the same handful of tactics again and again.These tactics include the following:
- Empty box returns, where the buyer ships back a box with nothing inside or with filler that matches the item’s weight
- Item swaps, where a buyer returns a cheaper, broken, or counterfeit version of the product
- Wardrobing, where a customer uses an item once and returns it as unwanted
- False non-receipt claims, where a buyer says a delivered package never arrived
The Amazon empty box scam and item swaps are hard to prove without photos or weight records from both ends of the shipment. Sellers who document outgoing orders are in a much stronger position when they request reimbursement.
The Rise of Refund Fraud as a Service
Many fraudulent refunds come from organized groups that sell refund fraud as a service. Customers pay these groups a fee to manipulate the return process on their behalf. Amazon’s update on dismantling fraud-as-a-service groups describes how its lawsuit against a group called REKK became the model for later cases, including five civil lawsuits against refund fraud groups filed in September 2025. Related tactics such as refund abuse and refundjacking now appear across eCommerce.
A-to-z Guarantee Claims and Chargebacks
A-to-z claims and chargebacks are the two formal ways buyers dispute Amazon orders. Both are legitimate protections, and both are open to abuse.
1. A-to-z Guarantee Claim Abuse
An A-to-z Guarantee claim asks Amazon to step in when a buyer says a seller failed to deliver an item or resolve a problem. Buyers can sometimes file one without contacting the seller first. Fraudsters use these claims to get refunds on items they received, especially when tracking is weak or a delivery scan is missing. Respond to every claim with tracking, delivery confirmation, and message history, because claims decided against the seller can count as order defects.
2. Amazon Chargebacks
An Amazon chargeback happens when a buyer disputes a charge with their card issuer instead of going through Amazon. According to Amazon’s seller guidance on chargebacks, Amazon handles fraud-related chargebacks such as stolen card cases, while sellers are responsible for service-related ones such as claims of non-receipt. Sellers should respond to a chargeback alert within seven calendar days with the shipping date, shipping method, and tracking details. The issuing bank’s decision is usually final, so the first response matters. Many of these disputes follow the same pattern as friendly fraud in other sales channels.
Counterfeits and Listing Hijacking
Counterfeit sellers do more than copy products. They attach themselves to legitimate listings and take sales and reputation from the brand owner.
How Amazon Hijackers Operate
An Amazon hijacker adds itself as another seller on your product page, often at a lower price, and ships counterfeit or inferior goods. Buyers blame the brand for poor quality, leave negative reviews, and file claims. The damage lands on your listing even though you never shipped the item.
Tools That Protect Brand Owners
Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry to gain more control over listing content and access the Report a Violation tool. Transparency adds unique codes to each unit so Amazon can verify authenticity before an order ships, and Project Zero lets approved brands remove counterfeit listings directly. Make test buys from suspicious sellers and keep the records, because documented Amazon counterfeit evidence strengthens every takedown request.
How to Protect Your Business From Amazon Fraud
Amazon fraud prevention depends on documentation, fast responses, and steady monitoring. These steps cover the risks sellers face most often.
1. Document Every Outgoing Order
Photograph or record high-value items as they are packed, log package weights, and use tracking with delivery confirmation and signature for expensive orders. Serial numbers and tamper-evident packaging make item swaps much easier to prove.
2. Inspect Returns and File Reimbursement Claims
Check returns as soon as they arrive and compare them against your packing records. For seller-fulfilled orders, a SAFE-T claim lets you request reimbursement when a buyer returns an item that is damaged, used, or different from what you shipped. FBA sellers can request reimbursement when Amazon loses or damages inventory or when a refunded item never makes it back to the warehouse.
3. Respond to Every Claim and Chargeback on Time
Set up alerts for A-to-z claims and chargeback notices, respond within the deadline, and attach tracking, photos, and buyer messages. Check your Order Defect Rate weekly so you can spot a fraud pattern before it threatens your account.
4. Protect Your Seller Account
Turn on two-step verification, limit user permissions in Seller Central, and watch for changes to bank details or login settings. Learning the signs your Amazon seller account has been hacked helps you act before payouts are redirected.
5. Report Fraud to Amazon
Amazon fraud reporting works best with clear evidence. Report abusive buyers and suspicious claims through Seller Support, use the Report a Violation tool in Brand Registry for counterfeits and hijackers, and flag fake reviews through Amazon’s review reporting options. Keep a log of every case so repeat offenders are easier to show.
Keep Amazon Fraud From Eating Into Your Margins
Amazon fraud costs sellers more than the value of a single order. Each fraudulent refund, false claim, or hijacked listing chips away at inventory, margins, and account health. The sellers who lose the least treat documentation as routine, respond to every claim on time, protect their brand with Amazon’s own tools, and report repeat offenders. Put those habits in place now, and the next fraudulent return or claim becomes a recoverable cost instead of a permanent loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Charity Amancio
Charity Amancio specializes in SaaS solutions for global eCommerce businesses, including payments and risk management applications. She bridges the gap between technology and merchant needs, offering practical perspectives on the tools shaping eCommerce. Her insights appear regularly in B2B publications covering the digital commerce space.