AI Fraud: Scammers Use Fake Photos for E-commerce Refunds

Imagine a customer demanding a refund for a pair of sneakers that arrived 'torn'. They send a photo as proof: the fabric is frayed, the stitching is broken, the sole is visibly detached. The store, to avoid a negative review and maintain service agility, refunds the money. The crucial detail: neither the tear nor the photo is real. The sneakers are intact. The image was created in seconds by artificial intelligence.

This isn't a science fiction script. It's the new frontier of digital crime, a tactic that is gaining traction in China and raising an alarm for global retail. Scammers have discovered a frighteningly effective way to exploit e-commerce return policies, turning generative AI into a factory for fake evidence.

Proof of a Crime That Never Happened

The mechanism of the scam is ingenious in its simplicity. The fraudster buys a product normally. After receiving it, they request a refund, claiming some defect: a stain on clothing, a scratch on an electronic device, a package of pasta with insects. The trick lies in the evidence.

Until recently, a scammer would have to use a photo found on the internet, easily detectable by a reverse image search that major platforms already use. Or they would have to damage the product itself, which would nullify their gain. Now, AI eliminates these obstacles. With a simple text command—like 'white cotton sheet with a large tear in the middle'—the technology generates a 100% original and convincing image of the alleged defect. To the store's verification systems, it's a legitimate photo, never seen before.

This ability to create unique evidence for each scam makes the fraud almost impossible to detect by traditional methods. Each refund request is accompanied by a different 'proof,' customized for the product in question. It's a volume of deception on an industrial scale, with virtually zero cost to the criminal.

Small Retailers in the Line of Fire

While retail giants may have the resources to develop countermeasures, the main victims are small and medium-sized store owners. Operating on tight margins, many of them depend on flexible return policies as a competitive differentiator. The 'customer is always right' philosophy is exploited to the fullest.

For these entrepreneurs, the choice is difficult: risk a dispute that could result in negative reviews and platform penalties, or simply accept the loss and issue the refund. Most opt for the second option, suffering a silent financial bleed. It's a war of attrition they cannot win, as the photographic 'proof' seems irrefutable.

The sophistication is such that scammers even share tips on forums on how to make the images even more credible, adding details like specific lighting or a background that matches a home environment. The system of trust upon which e-commerce was built is being undermined from within.