Chargeflow, the leading chargeback automation platform for online commerce, announced Chargeflow Prevent, a first-of-its-kind post-purchase, pre-fulfillment fraud prevention platform designed to stop friendly fraud before it occurs. Unlike traditional checkout fraud tools that screen only at the point of payment, Prevent operates in the critical gap after payment but before fulfillment, closing the blind spot where most fraud slips through. Operating during the critical window between payment and fulfillment, Prevent utilizes advanced machine-learning and the power of a global network of tens of thousands of merchants to identify high-risk orders in real-time. This enables merchants to block stolen-card fraud, friendly fraud, and policy abuse—and reduce disputes by as much as 90%. 

Post-purchase fraud and return abuse, also known as "digital shoplifting," is one of the fastest-growing threats to merchants today, where customers exploit return policies, dispute processes, or promotions after payment to obtain goods or refunds to which they aren't entitled. Unlike card-not-present (CNP) payment fraud often caught at checkout, bad actors typically bypass traditional frauddetection tools, leaving merchants exposed to unnecessary product losses, shipping costs, lost revenue, and increased chargeback rates.

With Prevent, merchants can now identify and block high-risk orders before fulfillment, stopping disputes at the source. This reduces operational waste, protects relationships with payment processors, and ensures merchants can focus on serving their best customers. By focusing on the blind spot after checkout but before fulfillment, Prevent closes a critical gap left open by traditional fraud solutions.

Each order receives a risk score with a recommended action - approve, verify, or cancel. For suspicious cases, the system automatically validates both the order and the buyer through a next-generation verification process. This extra layer of defense halts risky behavior without immediately blocking the transaction, instead alerting the buyer that their activity has been flagged. In most cases, friendly fraudsters abandon disputes once confronted, protecting merchants from losses while maintaining trust with genuine customers and minimizing false declines.