The National Retail Federation has conducted a Return Fraud Survey that found retailers expect almost one in 10 holiday gifts to be returned this year, many of them used or stolen. According to the survey results, retailers can expect to lose $3.5 billion from return fraud this holiday season.

The survey found that the most common form of return fraud is stolen merchandise, which 95.2% of retailers said they had experienced in the last year. Other types of return fraud cited were merchandise originally purchased with fraudulent or counterfeit tender (69.1%) and returns using counterfeit receipts (52.4%).

Stores also commonly find consumers attempting to return used merchandise that is not defective, a practice called “wardrobing,” which has affected more than half of companies (56%) in the last year.

More than two-thirds of retailers (69.1%) said their companies' return policies had been changed to specifically address return fraud. The same number said their return policies will remain the same this holiday season as last. Some retailers would be tightening policies this year (25%), while others will loosen return policies (4.8%), giving customers extra time to return merchandise or being more lenient on returns without a receipt.

Retailers surveyed said the amount of returns typically rises after the holiday season from an annual average of 7.3% to a post-holiday rate of 8.8%.

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