Refund fraud is no longer just opportunistic abuse of return policies. Instead, it has evolved into a structured underground marketplace where fraud techniques are packaged and sold like digital products. An analysis of thousands of posts from fraud-focused online communities by Flare researchers reveals a thriving ecosystem where actors openly advertise refund “methods,” tutorials, and operational services designed to exploit the refund workflows of major retailers and payment platforms. Instead of relying on malware or sophisticated hacking, these schemes weaponize something far simpler: knowledge of customer service processes and payment dispute systems. By manipulating procedures originally designed to protect consumers, fraudsters can reliably extract money or goods from companies -…