2.4 Billion euros in losses caused by fraud in e-commerce

2.4 billion euros in losses caused by fraud in e-commerce

- Fraud in the online retailing sector increased by 63 %

- The online wholesale trade is also affected by fraud

- Two-day conference on the topic held on 16 and 17 April in Berlin

Berlin, 10 September 2014 - The economic loss in e-commerce caused by fraud has skyrocketed in the past year and it is expected to reach around 2.4 billion euros in 2014. Both the online retail sector is affected as well as the online wholesale trade, although to a lesser extent. This topic was the focus of a conference which was organised by the bbw University of Applied Sciences and held at the 'Umspannwerk' in the Berlin on 16 and 17 April 2015. Several top speakers and industry representatives held interesting presentations on the topic.

According to the German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, the total registered amount of damages in Germany caused by white-collar crime was approximately 3.8 billion euros. This figure is nearly 2 per cent higher than the previous year. According to the German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, the internet was used in 13 per cent of the cases. The main form of white-collar crime in this area was fraud.

However, these figures are much too low according to the calculations made by the bbw University of Applied Sciences. The actual amount of the economic damage caused by fraud is considerably higher in the online retail and online wholesale segments:

• According to information from the German Trade Association, 'Handelsverbandes Deutschland (HDE) e.V', sales of 38.7 billion euros is expected. Of this amount, about 5 per cent on average is related to losses caused by fraud, which means that it lead to a loss in revenue of approximately 1.185 billion euros in 2014. The loss in revenue caused by fraud in online retail sector thus increased from 1.185 billion euros in 2010 to approximately 1.855 billion euros in 2014, which is the equivalent of a 63 per cent increase.

• Online sales is also increasing in the wholesale trading sector. The percentage of sales from e-commerce in relation to total sales in the wholesale sector is 2.4 per cent, which is low compared to the retail sector. However, fraud has also caused a loss of revenue in this sector which totals approximately 0.528 billion euros.

The total amount of losses in the online retail and wholesale sectors is thus expected to be 2.383 billion euros in 2014. This is the equivalent to about 0.159 per cent of the total projected sales figure for German wholesale and retail sectors in 2014.

The two day conference in the Berlin 'Umspannwerk' centre on 16 and 17 April 2015 will be dedicated to the topic of fraud in e-commerce and in logistics. The bbw University of Applied Sciences is organising the event in cooperation with the Business Associations Berlin Brandenburg e.V. (UVB) and with the support of SAP and Qyte. Several prominent speakers and representatives from industry and trade are expected to attend the conference. More information is available at: www.bbw-hochschule.de/FOKUSTAG_Handel_und_Logistik.html.