While international specialist retailer Game actively champions its legitimate customers, the business has a proactive policy of targeting and disrupting digital dishonesty from fraudsters who fail to play by the rules.
Europe’s leading gaming brand, which has hundreds of stores across the UK and Spain, as well as operating international experiential gaming events such as Insomnia, uses a wide arsenal of anti-fraud tools to capture prolific offenders seeking to erode customer trust and its profitability in its cross-hairs.
One such weapon is Claims Detect Online (CDO) from National Business Crime Solution (NBCS), the not-for-profit organisation that works with police and the business community to tackle serious and organised crime, including forensic analysis of malicious Goods Lost In Transit (GLIT) claims.
With more than half of British retail businesses selling online, conservative estimates put the cost of GLIT at £400 million per year, with £40 being the average cost of a claim, but this could be the tip of a bigger iceberg as many retailers put the losses down to the cost of doing business and pay-out.
But Game is not one of those companies, as it successfully uses CDO’s capability to monitor and analyse the audit trail of thousands of transactions across multiple retail businesses to spot suspicious claims and anomalies.
John Low, head of risk for Game, who has been a member of NBCS for five years, said: “In conjunction with other fraud tools, Claims Detect Online forms an aspect of our defences against disingenuous refund and returns. We have solutions that provide live decisioning in all channels, whether it’s store to store, online into store or, as in the case of CDO, online to online, especially GLIT claims.
“Such dishonesty jumps sales channels so Claims Detect Online was a key element in completing the circle in our omni channel, enabling us to have all bases covered.
“Matches were identified with serial refunders and returners (R&R) in our retail brand but, with the syndicated data solution that provided early warning of multiple brand R&R bad actors, it is ensuring we can be more responsive prior to experiencing multiple claims.
Contributing retailers such as Game, who have already identified millions of pounds worth of potentially fraudulent claims through the simple dashboard reporting system, are able to identify persistent refund behaviour, as well as the modus operandi and claim matches from other users, while specific confidential data is anonymised to comply with GDPR requirements.
John added: “It is part of an overall arsenal that has helped reduce disingenuous R&Rs by millions of pounds while improving the customer experience for genuine customers wishing to return goods.
“We are supportive of the networking and syndication of GDPR compliant data and intelligence opportunities that NBCS/CDO provides. Furthermore, we would encourage any prospective participants to join in this collaboration at the earliest opportunity so that all stakeholders get the added benefit of reduced R&Rs and GLIT claims, gained from a wider range of retailer inclusion. Bad actors network and syndicate, and so should we.”
Simran Baghara, fraud and legal services manager for Claims Detect Online, said: “Game is a major inputter into CDO which allows it to actively interrogate its returns and refund data and make informed decisions that impact the bottom line.
“Such collaboration means businesses no longer need to write-off fraudulent claims as the cost of doing business. It will also help contributors with information to assist their negotiations with third party delivery companies where an issue is identified at that point of the customer journey.”
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