Shows
The Weekly FraudcastThe $300K Handbag Heist: How Cybercriminals are Tricking Banks and Bypassing AVSThe $300K Handbag Heist: Social Engineering, AVS Bypasses, and Invalid ChargebacksWhat happens when cybercriminals figure out how to trick the banks before they even trick the merchant?In this episode of The Weekly Fraudcast, Vito Petruzzelli dissects a massive, highly coordinated attack where fraudsters stole nearly $300,000 in luxury handbags in just 48 hours.Joined by fraud fighters Jessica Flores, De'Airra Belcher, Jared Gruenberg, Paula Zon, Matthew Blanchard, and more, the team breaks down the exact mechanics of this new threat. We uncover how bad actors are actively calling banks to change billing addresses...
2026-02-2350 minThe Weekly FraudcastChaos Is What You Make Of It (w/ Shelley Soucy)Shelley Soucy went from serving food at Disney World to becoming one of the most skilled fraud investigators in e-commerce. Her journey reveals the unexpected skills that translate from high-pressure restaurant work to conducting hundreds of fraud interviews.In this conversation, Shelley breaks down her transition from Disney's Magic Kingdom restaurants to managing loss prevention at Peloton. She explains how working in chaos taught her to stay calm under pressure, why she approaches every interview like a human conversation, and the mindset shifts that helped her excel in a field where validation is rare.Shelley discusses the reality of...
2026-02-1652 minThe Weekly Fraudcast"Agentic Commerce" Really Means "Search Has Changed -- Forever"The reality of agentic commerce in 2025 is nothing like the hype promised. While everyone expected AI shopping agents to revolutionize Black Friday and Cyber Monday with 10-20% of traffic, what actually happened was a massive spike in AI search referrals, not autonomous purchasing.Vito Petruzzelli breaks down why agent commerce conversion rates remain terrible, taking 30+ minutes for simple purchases that often get declined by fraud systems anyway. The real story is how search behavior has fundamentally shifted - consumers now use ChatGPT to find deals and get referred to merchant sites, rather than having...
2026-02-0753 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Mustard Stain That Exposed a Pavlovian Return ScamBanking fraud specialist De'Airra Belcher joins the Fraudcast community of experts to expose the hidden vulnerabilities in gift card systems and return policies that fraudsters exploit daily. From embedded gift cards at Dollar Tree to sophisticated return abuse schemes, this conversation reveals the shocking gaps between different industries that bad actors use to their advantage.De'Airra brings 10 years of banking experience and 5 years in fraud prevention, sharing her expertise in pattern recognition and her mission to break down the silos that enable fraud across industries. The discussion covers everything from gift card tampering and...
2026-01-3147 min
Cyber SalveEpisode 15: The Nausea and Vertigo Brought on By Digital FraudHow much revenue are you unknowingly losing to fraud? In this episode, Jordan Brannon talks with Vito Petruzzelli, Risk Intelligence Lead at Signifyd, to unpack the root causes and offer a remedy to ecommerce fraud that quietly erodes margins, inventory, and customer trust. From unauthorized chargebacks and reshipper red flags to how fraud prevention can actually unlock more revenue and strengthen operations.
2026-01-2744 minThe Weekly FraudcastHow 19 Customers Stole $1.4 Million Through ReturnsWhat if you could start with the answers instead of drowning in spreadsheets when returns fraud hits your business? This episode reveals how AI and large language models can flip your investigation process completely backwards - starting from the headline impact and drilling down to individual bad actors.Vito Petruzzelli demonstrates a revolutionary approach to returns analysis that cuts through the traditional export-pivot-table nightmare. Instead of getting buried in hundreds of thousands of rows of data while the landscape shifts around you, see how you can instantly identify high-value customers against those responsible for...
2026-01-2646 minThe Weekly FraudcastReturns Cost You 20% of Holiday SalesWelcome to 2026 and the brutal reality of post-holiday returns. We're diving deep into the $181 billion problem that's already hit ecommerce this year, with returns spiking 10% higher than last year and nearly 20% of all holiday sales coming back through your door.Shelley Soucy from Peloton shares her incredible detective work uncovering a $300,000 returns fraud ring, including one customer who returned $275,000 worth of products over 5 years while reselling everything on Poshmark. She walks through the technical glitches fraudsters exploited and the multi-platform solution her team built to catch future abuse.From...
2026-01-1740 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Floating Rock Philosophy That's Changing Fraud Fighting (w/ Emma Linnane)Emma Linnane breaks down her unconventional path from radio broadcaster to fraud operations manager, revealing why customer service experience is the secret weapon most fraud fighters are missing.In this final episode of 2025, Emma shares her proven red box method for winning chargeback disputes, explains how she uses Facebook to catch first-party fraudsters through family connections, and discusses the cultural differences between fraud patterns in America versus Europe.From her early days getting hit with Visa fines to developing open source investigation techniques that save thousands in chargebacks, Emma...
2025-12-2244 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Red Box Trick That Wins 98% of Fraud DisputesThe post-holiday fraud season is in full swing and fraudsters are getting creative with their attacks. Ecommerce and hospitality businesses are facing sophisticated social engineering schemes where bad actors call customer service pretending to be corporate, manipulate hotel staff into processing fake refunds, and exploit account takeovers to redirect orders to new addresses.This episode covers the latest fraud trends hitting businesses right after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Experts share real cases including a coordinated attack on over 400 Hyatt hotels where scammers convinced night operators to process unmatched refunds totaling thousands of dollars...
2025-12-1549 minThe Weekly FraudcastWhy Every Ecommerce Brand Needs Different Solutions (w/ Serge El Hachem)Serge El Hachem from Lazer Technologies drops a masterclass on where ecommerce is heading and why your current approach might leave you behind.The big revelation? Websites as we know them could be extinct in 250 days. Sounds dramatic, but here's what's actually happening. Discovery is shifting from Google searches to AI agents like ChatGPT making product recommendations. Brands that aren't feeding these systems the right data - FAQs, reviews, comparison content - are getting buried while competitors who optimize for AI agents are winning.Black Friday data revealed something...
2025-12-0842 minThe Weekly FraudcastHow To Survive Holiday Season Without Losing Your MindThe brutal truth about holiday fraud season nobody wants to admit - it's mentally exhausting, technically challenging, and feels almost inhumane at times. Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera host their weekly fraud prevention community where professionals share real struggles heading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday.This pre-Thanksgiving episode captures the raw anxiety fraud fighters experience during peak season. From new platform implementations without proper tools to the psychological pressure of making split-second decisions worth thousands of dollars, the discussion reveals what really happens behind the scenes.The conversation...
2025-12-0341 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Manipulation Method Hitting Every Ecommerce SiteAddress manipulation is one of the most overlooked fraud tactics hitting ecommerce businesses today. Fraudsters use sophisticated techniques to bypass velocity checks and denial lists by creating dozens of variations of the same address, exploiting your systems while still getting their packages delivered.This episode breaks down the most common address manipulation schemes including velocity evasion, denial list bypassing, collusion indicators, and phone agent exploitation. Learn why pre-purchase address cleaning actually hurts your fraud detection and discover the post-purchase normalization strategy that reveals hidden fraud networks.Key topics covered:
2025-11-2441 minThe Weekly FraudcastThis Changes Everything for Ecommerce Growth (w/ Nirav Sheth)Digital transformation doesn't have to be scary when you approach it the right way. Nirav Sheth, Chairman of Anatta, breaks down how ecommerce brands can scale from 50 million to 100 million and beyond without hitting the dreaded growth ceiling that stops most companies cold.This conversation reveals why most digital transformation projects fail and how to flip the script by focusing on business cases instead of technical features. You'll discover the real-world tactics that work for omnichannel experiences, from handling online returns in physical stores to using AI tools that...
2025-11-1750 minThe Weekly Fraudcast45% of Your Declines Could Be Approved SafelyThe haunting specter of triangulation fraud is hitting major merchants hard this holiday season. Three players create the perfect storm - an innocent buyer seeking deals on marketplaces, a fraudster selling products they don't own, and a stolen credit card victim who gets hit with the chargeback.Here's how it works: A legitimate shopper finds your product listed below retail price on a marketplace. When they buy it, the fraudster uses a stolen credit card to purchase that same item from your actual store, shipping it directly to the buyer using their contact information...
2025-11-1043 minThe Weekly FraudcastThink Like a Fraudster to Beat Them at Their Own Game (w/ Anna Prince-Palmer)Fraud expert Anna Prince-Palmer reveals the psychological tactics that separate successful fraud fighters from those who constantly play defense. With 15 years of experience spanning law enforcement and tech, she breaks down why understanding criminal behavior is your most powerful weapon.Anna explains why fraudsters are more motivated than you are - their survival often depends on success while you clock out at 5pm. She demonstrates how to think like an attacker by asking "how would I get this product if I had no money" and shares real examples of spinning up test accounts to...
2025-11-0349 minThe Weekly FraudcastBots Are Stealing Your Black Friday Sales (w/ Jesse Martin-Alexander)Jesse Martin-Alexander from Kasada reveals how sophisticated bot networks are preparing for Black Friday by creating fake accounts and exploiting pricing errors right now. These aren't your typical nuisance bots - they're organized operations that can devastate your holiday sales and customer experience.The conversation covers the real cost of bot attacks beyond just stolen inventory, including how over-aggressive bot protection can accidentally block legitimate customers, creating invisible revenue losses. Jesse explains why the traditional approach of making humans prove they're human through endless CAPTCHAs is failing, especially as AI agents begin to reshape...
2025-10-2846 minThe Weekly FraudcastAI Will Break Every Fraud Model This Holiday Season (w/ Tracy Kobeda Brown)Tracy Brown breaks down the fraud landscape heading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, revealing why refund abuse has now overtaken chargebacks as the biggest threat to merchants. With fake storefronts up 800% in Q1 and AI about to break traditional fraud detection models, this holiday season is shaping up to be unlike any other.Tracy shares real-world insights from her 25 years in fraud prevention, covering everything from gift card fraud rings to WhatsApp business scams. She explains why velocity checks are the most forgotten fraud prevention tool and how romance scams are creating unexpected...
2025-10-2442 minThe Weekly FraudcastThis Data Scientist Found a Way to Approve 50% More Orders (w/ Luke Van Hine)Manual review queues are about to explode during Black Friday and holiday season. Most merchants send 8-10% of orders to manual review, but without proper optimization, that could jump to 15-20% when volume increases 4x.Luke Van Hine, Data Scientist at Signifyd, reveals how to optimize your manual review queue before the holiday rush hits. The counterintuitive insight: if you have 0% fraud losses in certain buckets with only 89% approval rates, you're actually leaving money on the table.The analysis process is surprisingly straightforward. Start by binning your current manual...
2025-10-2046 minThe Weekly FraudcastWhy Your >90-Day-Old Fraud Rules Are UselessVito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera break down a massive Bank of America bin attack hitting e-commerce merchants right now. They reveal why traditional fraud rules are failing and share the exact methodology to identify and combat sophisticated fraud patterns without blocking legitimate customers.The discussion covers a 20% spike in fraudulent activity targeting Bank of America Visa cards beginning with 440066, with 60% involving guest checkouts and half showing AVS mismatches. Industry experts Paula Zon, Ben Li, Lynne, and others share real-world examples from gift cards to luxury goods.Key topics covered:
2025-10-1539 minThe Weekly FraudcastBlack Friday Fraud Tactics You Need to KnowEvery year around Black Friday, Southeast Asian fraud networks launch coordinated attacks on e-commerce sites. This episode reveals the shocking patterns emerging from this $2.3 million fraud scheme and why blocking everything could cost you more than the fraud itself.Vito Petruzzelli breaks down real data showing how fraudsters are exploiting mobile apps at 10X the rate of web transactions, targeting specific freight forwarding locations in Oregon and New Hampshire, and using predictable email patterns to bypass fraud detection systems.The key insight: this isn't a binary problem. Rather than...
2025-10-1343 minThe Weekly FraudcastHow to Identify AI Shopping Bots Before Black FridayBlack Friday and Cyber Monday are coming fast, and most fraud teams aren't prepared for what's about to hit them. AI shopping agents are already placing orders on e-commerce sites, manual review queues are about to get slammed, and outdated decision rules could cost you millions in lost revenue.Vito Petruzzelli breaks down the three critical areas every fraud team needs to address right now. First, AI agents are already shopping on your site whether you know it or not. He shows you exactly how to identify these bot transactions using specific browser strings...
2025-10-0945 minThe Weekly FraudcastTurn Your Old Fraud Rules Into Revenue Machines (An Homage to Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves)Most fraud prevention teams are trapped in a House of Leaves situation - they have 10, 20, or even more rules running in the background, but 64% have little to no confidence in assessing whether these rules are actually working.In this episode, Vito Petruzzelli breaks down a simple 5-step process for auditing your existing fraud rules and turning declining orders into revenue opportunities. Using real examples like the "decline all Secaucus, New Jersey orders" rule that was blocking hundreds of thousands of dollars in legitimate transactions, he shows how to identify low-hanging fruit in your rule...
2025-10-0840 minThe Weekly FraudcastCommunity Over Chaos: How Fraud Teams Find PeaceIn a world filled with endless fraud alerts and chargebacks that make no sense, finding your community becomes more than just networking - it becomes survival. This episode dives deep into the rising threat of first party abuse, formerly known as friendly fraud, which now accounts for 20% of all fraud incidents and is the top concern for 45% of merchants.Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera from Signifyd host an intimate conversation about building meaningful connections in the fraud prevention space while tackling the hardest challenges facing teams today. The discussion reveals why first party abuse...
2025-10-0838 minThe Weekly FraudcastReturns Fraud Unpacked: How Merchants Fight Abuse and Build Customer Loyalty (w/ Pedro Sanzovo)In this episode, Vito Petruzzelli sits down with Pedro Sanzovo, Sr. Director of New Products at Signifyd, to dive deep into the rapidly evolving world of ecommerce returns. Pedro, who brings a diverse background in fraud prevention and analytics, frames returns as a crucial moment where consumer trust is tested and loyalty can be won. However, he also highlights how this customer-centric approach has unintentionally created new vulnerabilities, as fraudsters and abusers exploit increasingly lenient return policies designed to delight legitimate shoppers.The conversation explores the dramatic shift from...
2025-10-0723 minThe Weekly FraudcastTackling the Hidden Costs of Ecommerce Returns and Boosting Customer Retention (w/ Rajesh Ramanand)In this episode, Vito Petruzzelli talks with Rajesh Ramanand, the Founder and CEO of Signifyd and a seasoned expert with nearly 25 years in retail and ecommerce, for an in-depth discussion on the growing challenge of product returns in the digital marketplace. They kick things off by exploring how the convenience of online shopping has led to a staggering volume of returns—nearing $900 billion annually in the US alone—and how retailers are struggling to replicate the in-store experience, where returns often lead to additional purchases. Raj emphasizes that while brick-and-mortar stores could recapture lost reve...
2025-10-0725 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Death of Traditional Websites Is Here (w/ Craig DeWitt)Craig DeWitt, Founder of Skyfire, reveals how agentic commerce is transforming online shopping and why traditional fraud detection systems are blocking billions in valid revenue. The data shows web traffic to major publications has dropped 70% in 6 months as consumers shift to AI-powered shopping interfaces, yet most merchants can't tell the difference between legitimate agent transactions and fraud attempts.The current agentic commerce experience is clunky - users still manually input credit cards and navigate through traditional checkout flows. But that's about to change dramatically. Craig explains how Skyfire's identity and payments platform solves the...
2025-10-0646 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Coming AI Shopping Revolution (w/ Jordan Brannon)AI shopping agents are quietly infiltrating ecommerce sites, creating a perfect storm for fraud teams. Jordan Brannon, President of Coalition Technologies, reveals how AI bots are already making purchases while appearing completely human - using real devices and browsers that bypass traditional fraud detection.The challenge is massive. These AI agents look identical to legitimate customers in fraud systems, but companies like OpenAI are actively obfuscating their bot traffic to circumvent security measures. Meanwhile, organic web traffic is plummeting while AI-driven traffic spikes across the internet.Key topics covered:
2025-10-0643 minThe Weekly FraudcastSurviving Black Friday: Fraud Trends, AI, and Real-World Advice (w/ Kelley Andersen)In this episode of the Fraudcast, Gena Rivera and Vito Petruzzelli welcome Kelley Andersen, a seasoned leader in payments fraud and customer support tooling at Microsoft and former Amazon fraud expert, to dive into the latest challenges and strategies in e-commerce fraud prevention. Kelley opens up about her journey from early aspirations in law to risk analytics in insurance, eventually leading major fraud teams at Amazon and Microsoft. She emphasizes the untraditional pathways many take into fraud prevention and sets the stage for an insightful conversation about the dynamic evolution of the field.
2025-10-0643 minThe Weekly FraudcastManual Review, AI, and the Future of Fraud Fighting (w/ Coby Montoya)In this episode of the Fraudcast, Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera welcome the legendary Coby Montoya, a seasoned fraud and payments specialist with two decades of experience across companies like PayPal, American Express, and Sift. The episode’s community-driven format encourages live participation and features contributions from fraud professionals including Ryan, Matthew, and Toy. The conversation kicks off with Coby sharing how a start in customer service gave him unique empathy for the human side of fraud and risk prevention—a perspective that continues to influence his approach even as technology changes.
2025-10-0643 minThe Weekly FraudcastThe Art of Fraud Storytelling: Strategies to Be Seen, Heard, and Supported (w/ Brian Davis)This episode of Fraudcast centers on the theme of “making yourself heard” within ecommerce fraud and risk teams, featuring special guest Brian Davis, ecommerce fraud and risk legend. Brian draws from his vast experience building fraud teams and processes across different business models to share a practical framework he calls “Know Your Stuff, Know Your Audience, Know Your Message.” The discussion emphasizes how fraud professionals can better communicate their insights and needs—whether addressing their own teams or presenting cases to executive leadership—by tailoring their messaging, using data-driven storytelling, and understanding the internal goals and pr...
2025-10-0646 minThe Weekly FraudcastFrom Fake Streams to Art Forgeries: Deep Dive into Creative Industry Fraud (w/ Steven Frank)This episode of Fraudcast takes a deep dive into the intricacies of fraud within the art and music industries, highlighting how schemes have evolved from historical payola scandals to modern manipulations involving bots, fake streaming numbers, and AI-generated content. Vito Petruzzelli and Gena Rivera set an open and inviting tone for discussion, encouraging active participation from the live audience. They lay the groundwork for a conversation that examines the ethical, technical, and operational complexities of stopping fraudulent activities in sectors where authenticity and provenance are often difficult to verify.The episode features Steven Frank...
2025-10-0642 min
Commerce Innovators094: E-commerce's Hidden Battles: Insights from Holiday Trends and Beyond with Signifyd's Vito PetruzzelliIn this episode, host Joreal Whitfield chats with Vito Petruzzelli, Senior Risk Intelligence Analyst at Signifyd, about the evolving landscape of e-commerce fraud and the lessons learned from the recent holiday season. From tackling industrialized scams to unlocking opportunities with first-time buyers, they explore how businesses can stay ahead in an increasingly complex digital world. Key Insights Include: Learnings from Black Friday and Cyber Week trends Combating fraud while creating frictionless experiences for good buyers Tackling consumer abuse like returns fraud and triangulation schemes Tune in for actionable strategies and expert perspectives on protecting your business...
2025-01-291h 08