Fraud Awareness WeekAn Action Plan to Stop Fraud & Chargebacks in 2026

International Fraud Awareness Week: Your Wake-Up Call to Evaluate Fraud Prevention

Between managing inventory, fulfilling orders, and keeping customers happy, fraud prevention often gets pushed to the back burner. At least, until a major incident forces it to the front.

That's exactly why International Fraud Awareness Week exists. The aim is to create a dedicated moment when you stop, assess your vulnerabilities, and take action before fraud forces your hand.

Maybe you’ve been meaning to tighten up your fraud controls, update your team training, or finally implement that authentication tool you’ve been researching. Well, this is your moment. Despite the name, I want to make it clear that Fraud Awareness Week shouldn’t just be about awareness; it's about action.

What Is International Fraud Awareness Week?

International Fraud Awareness Week (IFAW) is an annual global campaign organized by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. The ACFE is the world's largest anti-fraud organization with more than 95,000 members across 160 countries.

Held during the third week of November each year, IFAW brings together businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and fraud prevention professionals to raise awareness about fraud risks and promote proactive defense strategies.

This year, International Fraud Awareness Week runs from November 16 through the 22. Past campaigns have focused on education, transparency, and empowering individuals and organizations to recognize and report fraud.

IFAW is a structured opportunity to evaluate vulnerabilities that might otherwise get overlooked in day-to-day operations. The AFCE provides ready-made educational content to share with staff and customers, turning fraud prevention into a team effort. Perhaps most importantly, it establishes fraud prevention as a priority that deserves dedicated time and attention; not just something you react to when chargebacks start piling up.

The campaign also offers a strategic communications opportunity. By publicly acknowledging IFAW and sharing fraud prevention tips with customers, you demonstrate security consciousness that builds trust. Customers want to know their payment information is protected, and visible participation in IFAW signals that you take that responsibility seriously.

The Real Cost of Fraud

When you think about fraud losses, you probably tend to focus on the disputed transaction amount. You might say “I lost $500 on that fraudulent order.” But, that's a dangerously incomplete picture.

According to the most recent data, merchants actually lose $4.61 per every dollar lost to fraud when you account for all associated costs. How’s that work? Well, beyond the stolen merchandise and lost revenue, you’re paying chargeback fees (typically $20-100 per dispute). You’ve also already incurred shipping costs to send the product to the fraudster, and you’ve lost the inventory itself, which can't be recovered. And, you're facing increased payment processing fees as your fraud rate climbs.

Next, add in the staff time spent investigating the fraud, gathering evidence, and responding to chargebacks, plus the opportunity cost of resources diverted from revenue-generating activities. All things considered, that $500 fraudulent order could have actually costs you $2,305.

According to the ACFE, the median loss per a single fraud incident is $145,000. That median includes internal fraud, embezzlement, and other schemes beyond just transaction fraud. But, it illustrates the catastrophic potential of undetected fraud schemes. Even “small” fraud losses compound quickly when you're operating on slim eCommerce margins.

The Fraud Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight

Fraud is a problem that needs to be addressed holistically. What do I mean by that? Well, think about it this way.

We have third-party fraud, where criminals use stolen credentials or fake identities to make unauthorized purchases. This covers everything from account takeover attempts to card testing to business email compromise (and everything in between). These threats tend to get a lion’s share of the attention regarding fraud detection and prevention. But, the fact is that first-party fraud tactics like friendly fraud and refund fraud cost merchants exponentially more than any third-party threat.

The statistics are alarming. According to data from Visa and the Merchant Risk Council, 94% of merchants reported experiencing first-party fraud in 2024. This represents a fundamental shift in the fraud landscape, driven by the normalization of fraud through social media, economic pressures encouraging unethical behavior, and a widespread misunderstanding of when chargebacks are legitimate.

Merchants who tighten policies face customer backlash and competitive disadvantage. Those who maintain generous policies absorb massive fraud losses. There's no easy answer, but awareness and strategic policy design help minimize exploitation while maintaining customer satisfaction.

Fraud Awareness Week Participation: A Step-by-Step Action Plan

International Fraud Awareness Week isn’t just about reading articles and feeling more aware; it’s about taking concrete action. Use this week as a catalyst for implementing improvements you've been postponing. Here’s your action plan broken into achievable timeframes.

These are a few practices you can implement now, during IFAW:

#1  |  Conduct a fraud risk assessment using ACFE resources

Visit FraudWeek.com and download the free fraud risk assessment tools provided by the ACFE. These worksheets walk you through evaluating vulnerabilities in payment processing, account security, internal controls, and data protection. The assessment takes 1-2 hours and provides a prioritized list of gaps to address. Don’t skip this step; you can’t fix problems you haven't identified.

#2  |  Schedule a team training session

Block 60-90 minutes on everyone’s calendar during IFAW for fraud awareness training. Cover the most common fraud types affecting your business, red flags to watch for, proper procedures for handling suspicious orders, and who to contact when fraud is suspected. Make it interactive: show real examples of fraudulent orders you’ve caught (or missed), and let team members share experiences and ask questions. The ACFE provides free training materials you can customize for your business.

#3  |  Review your current chargeback ratio and fraud losses

Pull reports from your payment processor showing chargebacks, disputes, and fraud-related declines for the past six months. Calculate your chargeback ratio (total chargebacks divided by total transactions). If you’re above 0.5%, you need immediate attention. If you’re above 0.9%, you’re in danger of card network penalties. Document total fraud losses using the $4.61 multiplier to capture real costs. This baseline gives you metrics to measure improvement against.

#4  |  Audit existing fraud prevention tools

List every fraud prevention measure currently in place: AVS, CVV verification, velocity rules, manual review thresholds, blocklists, device fingerprinting, 3-D Secure, etc. For each tool, ask: Is it configured optimally? When was it last updated? What's the false decline rate? Are we actually using the data it provides? Most merchants discover they’re paying for tools they’ve barely configured or aren’t leveraging effectively.

#5  |  Share fraud awareness content with customers and staff

Use IFAW as a reason to communicate about fraud prevention. Send a customer email explaining how you protect their payment information and what they can do to spot phishing attempts. Post on social media about IFAW participation and fraud prevention tips. Create internal communications highlighting your commitment to fraud prevention and encouraging team vigilance. This visibility builds trust and reinforces the importance of fraud prevention.

Next, I’ve outlined a few practices that I’d recommend you undertake before the end of the current year:

#1  |  Implement or upgrade one major fraud prevention tool

Based on your risk assessment, identify the highest-impact improvement you can make and get it done within 30 days. This might be implementing 3D Secure authentication, deploying a machine learning fraud detection platform, setting up automated velocity rules, or integrating device fingerprinting. Don’t try to fix everything at once; pick one meaningful upgrade and execute it well.

#2  |  Update return and refund policies

Review your policies through a fraud prevention lens. Can you tighten return windows without alienating customers? Should you require proof of ID for high-value returns? Would restocking fees deter some return fraud? Document clear processes for investigating suspicious returns. Strike the balance between customer-friendly policies and fraud deterrence, then communicate changes clearly to customers.

#3  |  Create an incident response protocol

Document exactly what happens when fraud is detected or suspected: Who investigates? What information gets collected? When do you contact law enforcement? How do you prevent the same attack vector from working again? Having a documented playbook ensures consistent, effective responses rather than chaotic reactions. Include contact information for your payment processor's fraud department, relevant law enforcement agencies, and internal stakeholders who need notification.

Finally, here are some best practices to look into through the first quarter of the new year:

#1  |  Establish a regular fraud metrics review schedule

Set recurring monthly meetings (even just 30 minutes) to review fraud metrics: chargeback ratio, fraud loss amounts, dispute win rate, false decline rate, and emerging fraud patterns. Track trends over time and celebrate improvements. Regular review keeps fraud prevention visible and ensures problems get caught early rather than after they've compounded.

#2  |  Deploy an employee training program

Move beyond one-time training to ongoing education. Implement quarterly refresher sessions on fraud recognition, social engineering awareness, and security best practices. Share real-world examples, both of fraud attempts you’ve intercepted and fraud that got through. Consider using simulated phishing tests to gauge employee awareness and provide targeted education for those who need it.

#3  |  Optimize fraud tool configurations based on first-month data

After 30 days of running your new or upgraded fraud prevention tool, analyze the results. Are you catching fraud you previously missed? What's the false decline rate? Are legitimate customers getting blocked? Use this data to tune thresholds, adjust rules, and optimize settings. Fraud prevention requires ongoing calibration, not set-it-and-forget-it implementation.

#4  |  Register as an ACFE supporting organization

Visit FraudWeek.com to register your business as a supporting organization for next year's International Fraud Awareness Week. Registration is free and provides access to exclusive resources, educational materials, and promotional assets. It also connects you with the broader anti-fraud community for knowledge sharing and best practices.

Creating Your Year-Round Fraud Prevention Strategy

Don’t let this energy fade away by December. The awareness and action sparked by IFAW should launch a permanent, proactive fraud prevention straegy. Effective fraud prevention requires ongoing monitoring, regular assessment, and continuous adaptation as fraud tactics evolve.

Key metrics to track monthly include your chargeback ratio, with a target of staying below 0.9% to avoid card network penalties (and ideally well below 0.5% for optimal processing rates). Track the percentage of revenue you lose to fraud; the global benchmark is 2.9%, so if you're exceeding that, you're losing more than average to fraudsters.

Monitor your dispute win rate when you fight chargebacks; consistently low win rates mean you need better evidence collection or should be more selective about which disputes you fight. Also, watch your false decline rate, because overly aggressive fraud prevention drives away good customers. Finally, track employee fraud reporting rates; if employees never report suspicious activity, they're either not trained properly or don't feel comfortable raising concerns.

Other best practices include:

International Fraud Awareness Week provides the perfect catalyst to evaluate your fraud prevention program, identify gaps, and take action.

But, the real goal isn’t awareness for one week in November. Rather, it’s building a year-round culture where fraud prevention is everyone’s responsibility, vulnerabilities are identified and addressed proactively, and fraud losses decrease consistently over time. Use IFAW as your starting line, not your finish line.