A June 2026 Riskified report, conducted by eTail Insights across 2,091 consumers in seven countries, finds that 50% of shoppers use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to draft return or refund claims. Retailers surveyed say these AI-drafted messages produce "highly convincing return requests" that overwhelm review teams. The report also finds that 85% of consumers accept at least one type of strategic or deceptive return behavior as normal, 46% consider it acceptable to return items that look different in person, 42% practice "bracketing," and 24% say it is acceptable to wear an item before returning it. Notably, 52% of consumers support stricter return policies and more than 60% say they would change their behavior if they understood the true cost of returns. "When half of consumers are using AI to draft highly persuasive refund claims, manual reviews simply cannot keep up," said Jeff Otto, CMO at Riskified.