100% inspection

Automated 100% returns inspection

Reduce labor

Reduce manual human labor inspection

Minimize Risk

Identify potential fraud returns in real-time

CUSTOMER STORY

DETECT AND PREVENT MERCHANDISE FRAUD

A major eCommerce retailer needed to quickly verify box contents beyond the expected weight of the product to detect merchandise fraud before a refund is issued. 

CHALLENGE

Inspect 100% of returns in real time

To prevent merchandise return fraud for high-value items, the company needed an inspection solution that could see through closed boxes to identify the shape of contents in real-time. 

In today’s fast-paced eCommerce environment, customers are often refunded for returned product before they are manually inspected. If there is a high volume of returns, items may not be checked immediately and are staged for later processing. Due to the delay between the refund and the return inspection, fraudulent returns may not be caught in time.

The company wanted automated inspections of closed packages for high value items to identify fraud in a timely manner. A common fraud method that they experience is the substitution of bricks of the same weight for the real product.

THRUWAVE SOLUTION

Real-time inspection through closed boxes



A ThruWave mmWave anomaly detection solution was installed over existing conveyor at the receiving dock where returns are processed. Using the human-safe millimeter wave solution, operators inspected images of the closed packages to validate that the products either matched the expected return item or flagged it as an anomaly for further inspection. 

RESULTS
mmWave inspection enables detection without opening boxes

ThruWave’s mmWave imaging system proved to be an extremely effective solution for quickly validating box contents and identifying potential fraudulent returns. The 3D mmWave imaging of bricks and similar objects used to fraudulently match the weight of a legitimate returned product is easily detected due to the reflectivity and dimensional differences.

This allows customers to:

• Identify fraudulent returns in real-time
• Inspect 100% of all returns at low cost and reduced labor
  



"According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation, in the last year alone, US merchants lost over $25.3B to return abuse and fraudulent returns."

 - MerchantFraudJournal.com

April 2021