WASHINGTON — Loss prevention executives anticipate that nearly 9% (8.93%) of holiday returns will be fraudulent, up slightly from 8.67 percent last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s second annual Return Fraud Survey. As a result, return fraud will cost retailers an estimated $3.7 billion this holiday season, up from $3.5 billion last year. Retailers will lose $10.8 billion to return fraud in all of 2007. Despite the prevalence of fraud, more than a third of retailers (35.0%) have stated they made their return policies more lenient during the holidays to accommodate holiday shoppers. “Many retailers offer more lenient return policies during the holiday season to accommodate honest customers,” said Joseph LaRocca, NRF’s vice president of loss prevention, in a statement. “But unfortunately, retailers must constantly balance the desire to take care of their customers with the undisputed fact that criminals are constantly looking to take advantage of return policies.”

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