Returns Abuse & The "Cousin Network" (w/ John Mayover)

Returns Abuse & The "Cousin Network" (w/ John Mayover)

Fraud teams are no longer just fighting chargebacks; they are battling sophisticated logistics rings and AI-powered returns abuse. In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera bring on John Mayover, Senior Manager of Ecommerce Fraud and Compliance at URBN. John reveals how he accidentally started his 16-year fraud career by solving a puzzle at a bank, leading him to uncover massive operations like the "Cousin Network"—an insider-threat ring at a FedEx hub. The conversation dives deep into the post-pandemic explosion of returns fraud. John details how bad actors are exploiting "keep it" policies and using AI-generated scripts to socially engineer customer service reps. He also outlines his "Five Families" framework, proving why cross-departmental unity is the only way to stop modern ecommerce fraud. 👇 WHAT WE COVER: 🔹 The Cousin Network: Uncovering a sophisticated supply chain theft ring involving insider logistics help. 🔹 Returns Abuse Tactics: How fraudsters use dollar-store shirts and iron-on logos to scam generous return policies. 🔹 The AI Threat Reality: Why shopping bots aren't the primary concern for fashion retail, but AI-driven social engineering is. 🔹 The Five Families: Uniting fraud, customer service, warehouse, supply chain, and tech to close communication gaps. ⏳ EPISODE CHAPTERS:00:00 - Intro 03:45 - Accidental fraud career discovery 05:11 - Bank puzzle solving breakthrough 08:37 - Building fraud programs from scratch 10:38 - First major fraud scheme uncovered 12:25 - Cousin conspiracy at Fedex hubs 14:23 - Returns abuse explosion post pandemic 16:45 - Five families collaboration strategy 18:21 - Tech team builds custom dashboards 21:27 - Stakeholder relationship building tactics 24:00 - Technology gaps in fraud detection 26:34 - Systems integration success story 28:36 - Handling rejection and pushback 31:27 - AI commerce current fraud impact 32:36 - Social media monitoring operations 36:21 - Subscription model fraud patterns 38:55 - Future fraud evolution predictions Join the Fraudcast Ecosystem: 🔗 Connect with Vito on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitopetruzzelli/ 🔗 Connect with Gena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/ 🔗 Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-mayover-bb2a33102/

The Hidden Cost of AI: Why False Positives Hurt More Than Fraud (w/ Jared Gruenberg)

You are likely losing more money to your own fraud rules than to actual fraudsters. In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Gena Rivera and Stingray Fraud Intelligence founder Jared Gruenberg dissect the most expensive problem in e-commerce: false positives.\ Jared reveals the shocking math behind overly aggressive fraud controls, explaining why false positives cost 4.5x more than actual fraud losses, and why 38% of wrongfully declined buyers never return. The conversation exposes exactly where AI models fail—struggling with context around college campus addresses, "Buy Online, Pick Up In Store" (BOPIS) orders, and prepaid cards used by the unbanked. Jared outlines why the human analyst is still the ultimate defense, and how fixing the communication gap between customer service and risk teams can rescue your top-line revenue. 👇 WHAT WE COVER: 🔹 The False Positive Multiplier: Why turning away a legitimate customer damages revenue and long-term brand equity. 🔹 AI's Blind Spots: The specific address normalization issues that cause AI to flag legitimate drop-shipping and university deliveries. 🔹 The Customer Service Disconnect: How broken feedback loops hide false positive patterns from your risk team. 🔹 The Unbanked Dilemma: How standard fraud rules actively discriminate against 25% of Americans relying on prepaid cards. ⏳ EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 02:28 - Jared's fraud journey from behavioral health to live stream auctions 06:06 - Childhood fascination with infomercials and early fraud detection instincts 10:48 - False positives problem hurts good customers more than fraud itself 14:21 - Casio watch false positive terrorism example from 9/11 era 17:55 - Why false positives happen and analyst turnover challenges 20:22 - False positives cost 4.5x more than actual fraud losses 22:53 - Shelley's apparel return abuse investigation false positive nightmare 25:14 - Jamie's customer service feedback loop struggles with false positives 32:46 - Two sided marketplace false positive communication strategies 36:01 - AI vs manual review debate for reducing false positives 40:27 - College campus addresses trigger AI false positive flags 41:10 - Buy online pickup in store creates major AI confusion 44:51 - Shelley's personal Samsung watch auto decline frustration experience 46:25 - FedEx address normalization solution for AI street abbreviation issues 49:48 - University private mailbox AI detection problems explained 51:07 - Drop shipping distributor model creates legitimate transaction red flags 🔗 Connect with Gena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/ [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/] 🔗 Connect with Jared on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredgruenberg/

The Digital Wallet Fraud Explosion: Why Google Pay is Failing Merchants

Digital wallets are not created equal. In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera dissect the explosive spike in digital wallet fraud hitting merchants right now. While Apple Pay’s strict biometric verification keeps fraudsters at bay, Google Pay’s lax provisioning rules have led to a shocking fraud rate on its transactions. Vito and Gena break down how bad actors are rapidly loading stolen credit cards into non-biometric wallets, bypassing legacy fraud detection entirely. They give you the exact tactical playbook for extracting granular provisioning signals and biometric flags from your payment gateways before AI agents and crypto wallets make the problem worse. 👇 WHAT WE COVER: 🔹 The Digital Wallet Illusion: Why treating Apple Pay and Google Pay equally is a massive operational failure. 🔹 The Digital Wallet Fraud Spike: How fraudsters are exploiting non-biometric provisioning to launder stolen cards. 🔹 Data Dictionary Demands: How to fight your acquiring bank for the underlying wallet data they are hiding from you. 🔹 Future-Proofing: Navigating the emerging risks of cryptocurrency wallets and stable coins. ⏳ EPISODE CHAPTERS:00:00 - Intro03:22 - Digital wallet fraud explosion04:12 - Stolen credit cards in Google Pay08:33 - Google Pay fraud rate revealed11:22 - Provisioning signals for fraud detection14:42 - Requesting data from payment providers16:25 - Firearms industry digital wallet restrictions18:06 - Biometric authentication flags for disputes23:18 - Payment provider transparency challenges28:36 - Issuing vs acquiring bank dynamics32:27 - Fighting payment provider pushback strategies36:18 - Cryptocurrency wallet fraud risks40:24 - Google Pay disabled due to fraud42:50 - Data dictionary requests from providers47:44 - Next week Jared G hosts48:53 - VAMP threshold violations breaking news 🔗 Connect with Vito on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitopetruzzelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitoatsignifyd/] 🔗 Connect with Gena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/ [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/]

The Hidden Cost of Old Fraud Rules: Managing Rule Decay

Fraud teams are accidentally turning into revenue killers. In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Gena, Vito and the Fraudcast community tackle one of the industry's biggest blind spots: rule decay. Almost one in four rule declines are false positives, meaning legacy rules are actively rejecting your best customers. Gena and Vito reveal why any rule older than 90 days is a prime candidate for retirement or major revision. The conversation dives deep into practical solutions, from automated sunset processes to preventing manual review bias, featuring insights from practitioners like Renuka Venkatesan, Matthew Blanchard, and Jessica Flores. 👇 WHAT WE COVER: 🔹 Rule Expiration: Why every fraud rule needs a 90-day sunset clause. 🔹 False Positive Economics: How to calculate the true cost of rejecting good orders. 🔹 Daily Auditing: How Renuka Venkatesan monitors rule performance. 🔹 Cross-Team Collaboration: Why connecting your fraud and chargeback teams reveals critical blind spots. ⏳ EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 02:39 - Ben's TV debut on Yellowstone spinoff 05:40 - Signifyd Slack community highlights 07:50 - Rule decay overview and key insights 09:22 - Rules get old quick problem 10:36 - One in four rule declines are false positives 11:14 - Most teams lack sunset processes 13:07 - 90 day rule expiration recommendation 14:27 - Four considerations for rule audits 16:56 - Immediate action steps for rule management 18:39 - Jessica's rule creation challenges 22:32 - Miss Dee's financial institution tracking advice 23:14 - Matthew's rule refinement strategies 28:16 - Renuka's daily rule monitoring system 34:24 - Avoiding bias in manual review 38:57 - Knowledge preservation challenges 41:37 - Outbound verification call alternatives 47:09 - Preston's charge back team insights 49:46 - Renuka's broadcast community appreciation 52:32 - Final thoughts on rule optimization 🔗 Connect with Gena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gena-rivera/] 🔗 Connect with Vito on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitopetruzzelli/

Fighting Account Takeover Fraud with 6 Key Behavioral Signals

Account takeover attacks have surged 40% over the past year, as bad actors increasingly target loyalty points and stored payment methods. In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera tackle one of e-commerce's fastest-growing threats. They break down how fraudsters are spinning up typosquatting domains and exploiting accounts that have been dormant for over a year. Vito shares six empirical signals you can use to fingerprint account takeover attempts, including tracking password reset timing and measuring device fingerprint "lie counts". Katarina, Thomas, Deanne, and Shelley also share real-world challenges covering everything from fake police reports to freight forwarding schemes. 👇 WHAT WE COVER: 🔹 Dormant Account Danger: Why inactive accounts represent 92% of ATO fraud. 🔹 The "Lie Count" Metric: How device fingerprinting discrepancies expose deliberate obfuscation. 🔹 Tactical Defense: Using pre-discount order amounts and SMS friction to block bad actors. 🔹 NPS Manipulation: How fraud rings are gaming customer satisfaction scores to hide their tracks. ⏳ EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 02:29 - Account Takeover Fraud Rising 40 Percent 05:36 - Loyalty Points and Stored Value Under Attack 08:12 - Death of Single Signal Supremacy 11:05 - 148 Typosquat Domains Found for One Brand 13:45 - 6 Key Signals to Fingerprint ATO 17:46 - PayPal Hit Hard by Account Takeovers 20:24 - Fake Police Reports and Chargeback Challenges 26:29 - Pre Discount Order Amount Strategy 29:00 - 80 Orders Per IP During ATO Attacks 33:02 - Adding Friction Without Hurting NPS 36:23 - Freight Forwarding Address Problems 40:52 - Free ATO Analysis Consultation Offer 44:00 - Gift Card Fraud Ring Tactics 46:02 - Next Week Preview on Gift Cards 🔗 Connect with Vito on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitopetruzzelli/