At Amazon, customers can shop with confidence knowing they have access to a vast selection of safe and authentic products, along with hassle-free returns and refunds backed by our A-to-z Guarantee if they’re not satisfied with their purchase.
To preserve this trusted experience, we use a multi-layered approach that combines advanced technology with human investigations to combat fraud and abuse. Through our proactive detection capabilities, we have uncovered criminal organizations attempting to exploit the refund process itself to obtain money for products they never return. We are taking significant action to dismantle these refund fraud groups and the networks of service providers that work to enable these groups to commit fraud at scale.
On April 14, Amazon filed a lawsuit against a refund fraud group called “RBK”, which facilitated fake police reports to seek out fraudulent refunds from Amazon. This marks the latest in our expanding enforcement efforts against similar operations, such as “Mario,” “Wave,” “REKK,” “Chin Chopa,” and others.
How refund fraud groups operate
Refund fraud groups are global criminal enterprises, complete with their own customer service departments, marketing channels, and specialized service offerings. They charge fees to facilitate their illegal activities that negatively impact customers, sellers, and all participants in the retail supply chain. These operations are part of a broader organized retail crime (ORC) ecosystem that coordinate criminal activities that target retailers and brands, from cargo theft to physical theft in retail stores.
These bad actors often advertise their services through encrypted messaging platforms and social media, offering a range of specialized support including:
- Fraudulent documentation designed to bypass verification systems
- Deceptive return services that send back empty boxes or scan and mark items as received when nothing was returned
- Training programs that recruit and educate aspiring fraudsters to build their own operations
These services attempt to execute large-scale deception and expand fraud networks by multiplying the number of bad actors globally.
Amazon’s collaborative enforcement efforts have led to concrete results worldwide. Recent examples include:
- September 2025 Campaign: Amazon filed five civil lawsuits against refund fraud groups including Mario Refunds, A$O, Plugged, Kanan, and Wave and issued a large volume of cease-and-desist letters against their users. All five targeted refund fraud groups either shut down or publicly committed to cease targeting Amazon.
- REKK Investigation: Amazon obtained a $2 million default judgment against operator Domantas Radeckas, leading to his arrest by Lithuanian authorities and the seizure of approximately €6 million in illicit assets.
- Operation Chargeback: Through collaboration with law enforcement, Amazon supported successful criminal prosecutions including ten indictments in the Artemis Refund Group case (spanning New York to Singapore) and a three-year prison sentence for a Simple Refunds operator who caused more than $4 million in losses.
Detecting and blocking bad actor activity
Amazon fights refund fraud groups by using a comprehensive strategy that combines advanced technology, expert investigations, law enforcement collaboration, and civil litigation. We continuously monitor our store for fraud, abuse, and other risks, leveraging advanced machine learning models to analyze signals and data points, identifying patterns of abuse and shutting down bad actors before they can cause harm.
When we detect these schemes, we take immediate action and refer bad actors to law enforcement for criminal prosecution. As tactics change, we continuously incorporate new signals and insights from our investigations to strengthen our detection capabilities, identifying and stopping emerging fraud patterns before they can affect our selling partners.
Amazon has taken legal action against thousands of bad actors across dozens of countries and referred bad actors to law enforcement for criminal prosecution. As a result, Amazon has secured millions of dollars in criminal and civil judgments.
“Amazon has been at the forefront of enforcement against refund fraud groups, pursuing subjects in jurisdictions around the world,” said Jamie Wendell, senior corporate counsel, Customer Protection & Enforcement at Amazon. “Our enforcement strategy focuses on dismantling the criminal infrastructure at its source. When we take action against a refund fraud group, we don’t just stop one scheme, we eliminate the tools and services that enable hundreds of bad actors and send a clear message that those facilitating criminal operations will be held accountable.”
Strengthening industry-wide efforts to combat organized refund fraud
While significant progress has been made, we recognize that no single organization can solve this problem alone. We remain committed to ongoing innovation and investment, while actively collaborating with retailers, brands, law enforcement, and policymakers to make meaningful progress.
We invite law enforcement agencies and retailers worldwide to collaborate with us in this crucial fight. Together, the industry can hold every participant in the organized refund fraud ecosystem accountable and create a safer, more secure retail environment for businesses and consumers alike. Law enforcement can also report these crimes by emailing us here.
Learn more about our efforts to fight organized refund fraud.