Fraudes no sistema “Compre agora, pague depois”: como impedir fraudes no BNPL Chargebacks

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) fraud is the abuse of installment payment plans by bad actors who use stolen, synthetic or hijacked identities, or false disputes, to get goods without paying for them. The provider usually carries the credit risk, but the merchant still ships the goods and answers the disputes.

BNPL lets a shopper split the cost of an order into installments instead of paying the full amount at checkout. Providers such as Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, Sezzle and PayPal pay the merchant upfront and collect the installments themselves.

That is why BNPL appeals to shoppers without easy access to credit, including many Gen Z and millennial buyers looking for credit card alternatives.

Adoption keeps growing, as the latest buy now pay later statistics show. That growth also draws fraud, and chargeback fraud is the part merchants feel most.

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Como funciona o sistema “Compre agora, pague depois”?

BNPL lets merchants sell to customers who do not want to pay the full price at the point of sale. Here is how buy now, pay later works in seven steps:

Providers earn most of their revenue from a merchant fee on each order. The rate depends on the provider, the plan and the market, so check each provider's current pricing before you compare them.

BNPL is now mainstream. The Federal Reserve's 2025 survey of household economic well-being found that 16% of US adults used BNPL in the prior year.

Adobe counted $20 billion in BNPL online spending over the 2025 holiday season, up 9.8% year over year. Another research study, The Motley Fool's 2025 BNPL survey, found that 29% of BNPL users had paid late at least once.

But it's not all upside, as you'll find in the following section.

BNPL Fraud Risks for Merchants

Shoppers like BNPL because checkout is fast. Approval takes seconds, needs only a few clicks and skips a long credit application. Bad actors try to exploit that same speed.

Three features make BNPL a target:

• Real-time approval: the provider decides in seconds, so there is little time for deep checks.
• Delayed repayment: fraud can stay hidden until a payment is missed weeks later.
• Lighter credit checks: soft checks leave more room for fake or stolen identities.

By and large, BNPL fraud shows up in the following ways:

#1: Fraudulent Chargebacks

The most common form of BNPL fraud is the fraudulent chargeback. A bad actor pays BNPL installments with a stolen credit card, since many plans let shoppers repay by card. When the real cardholder spots the charge, they file a chargeback, and the BNPL provider is left holding the bag.

Another version starts with a real customer. The shopper buys with BNPL, receives the order, then claims it never arrived or was not authorized. That is friendly fraud, and it lands on the merchant as a dispute.

These losses add up fast: LexisNexis Risk Solutions' 2026 True Cost of Fraud study puts the total cost to US retail and ecommerce merchants at about $5.13 for every $1 of direct fraud loss.

#2: Account Takeover Fraud

BNPL providers give each new account a starting spending limit. The limit grows with account age, purchase frequency and payment history. That makes an established account a valuable target for account takeover fraud.

Bad actors take over genuine accounts with phishing, credential stuffing and SIM swapping, then spend the account's available limit.

Javelin Strategy & Research's 2026 Identity Fraud Study put US identity fraud losses at $27.3 billion in 2025, roughly flat from $27.2 billion in 2024. Javelin has tracked these losses for years, including in its 2021 Identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research.

#3: Synthetic Identities and Fake Accounts

Many BNPL providers let buyers sign up with basic documents, such as a driver's license or a utility bill for proof of address.

Fraudsters use documents from stolen mail or data breaches to build fake accounts that pass fraud and credit checks. This is known as synthetic fraud. A digital shoplifting operation might use:

• a disposable phone number to pass a one-time password check
• a drop address for delivery, so the goods cannot be traced
• synthetic data for the rest of the identity

The provider judges whether the named person can repay, not whether the shopper is that person. So the fraudster may use a virtual card for the first payment, then drop it before the next due date. They get the same introductory line of credit offered to real consumers, with no intention of ever repaying.

#4: Refund and Return Abuse

Some shoppers return empty boxes, swap items or claim refunds they are not owed. With BNPL, a refund also changes the shopper's repayment plan, so refund abuse can be harder to spot than on a card order.

The table below sums up each BNPL fraud type, its red flags and the merchant's best defense.

Are BNPL Chargebacks Different From Card Chargebacks?

Yes. A BNPL dispute runs through the provider's own process, not through Visa or Mastercard chargeback rules. The provider reviews the claim, asks you for evidence and decides the outcome under its merchant terms. Our guide to wallet and BNPL disputes shows which route applies to each payment type.

The money moves differently too. Klarna puts the shopper's invoice on hold during a dispute, while PayPal asks Pay Monthly borrowers to keep paying. If the shopper instead disputes a card repayment with their bank, that card chargeback hits the provider, not your merchant account. For the basics of the card side, see how chargebacks work.

How BNPL Disputes Work at Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm and PayPal

Each provider sets its own dispute reasons, deadlines and fees. Missing a deadline usually closes the case in the shopper's favor, so know the rules for every BNPL option you offer.

Sources: Klarna dispute flow, Afterpay dispute guide, Affirm dispute policy and PayPal Pay Monthly help, checked October 2026. Klarna disputes can be opened up to 180 days after capture and Afterpay disputes up to 120 days after the transaction. Affirm's policy sets no fixed post-purchase deadline for shoppers.

For provider-by-provider detail, see our guides to Afterpay chargebacks and Klarna vs. Affirm, or the full BNPL provider comparison.

How Merchants Can Prevent BNPL Fraud

Telling a shopper who cannot pay apart from one who never meant to pay is hard at checkout.

Many providers take on the fraud risk for approved orders: Klarna takes on the full fraud risk once it approves a payment, and Afterpay takes on the risk of fraud for merchants. Good BNPL risk management on the merchant side comes down to two jobs: stop bad orders before they ship, and win the disputes that still come in.

Review transaction and dispute patterns alongside verified order records and customer communications. A previous chargeback can be legitimate and is not proof of fraud. Investigate repeated inconsistencies case by case rather than assuming a customer will dispute again within a fixed period.

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Providers add their own controls on top. BNPL checkout companies prevent bonus abuse and chargebacks using identity checks: they confirm that phone numbers, emails and addresses are real, block duplicate accounts opened to reuse new-customer offers, and run third-party checks that the name on an order matches the billing and delivery address.

Standard rules that sort orders into "accept, reject or manual review" buckets help both sides, and they are a core part of any plan to prevent ecommerce chargebacks. 3D Secure on high-risk orders adds another layer. To keep costs down, run simple validation first and send only suspicious orders to 3D Secure, not every order.

For the wider picture, our guide to ecommerce fraud prevention covers controls beyond BNPL. If disputes still slip through, chargeback alerts can stop card disputes before they become chargebacks, and it helps to avoid the mistakes merchants make fighting chargebacks.

Stop BNPL Fraud Before It Becomes a Dispute

The cheapest BNPL fraud case is the one that never ships. Post-purchase fraud prevention catches risky orders in the window between checkout and fulfillment.

Chargeflow Prevent scans orders after checkout and before fulfillment, so you can cancel, verify or approve them before goods leave the warehouse. Chargeflow Alerts stop card disputes before they turn into chargebacks. Chargeflow Automation builds and submits evidence for you, and its InquiryAutomation resolves BNPL inquiries on PayPal, Klarna, Afterpay and eBay.

Chargeflow has recovered more than $200M for merchants. See how it works.

BNPL Fraud FAQs

What is BNPL fraud?

BNPL fraud is the abuse of buy now, pay later plans to get goods without paying. Common forms are stolen-card repayments, account takeover, synthetic identities, friendly fraud disputes and refund abuse. The BNPL provider absorbs most credit losses, while merchants absorb lost goods, dispute work and fees.

Are BNPL chargebacks different from card chargebacks?

Yes. BNPL chargebacks are handled under each provider's own dispute policy, not under Visa or Mastercard rules. The provider asks the merchant for evidence and decides the case. Merchant response windows run about 7 to 15 days, and losing can carry a provider fee, such as $15 at Affirm.

What does merchant liability look like with BNPL?

With BNPL, the provider usually carries the credit and fraud risk on approved orders and pays the merchant upfront. Klarna and Afterpay both say they take on fraud risk. The merchant remains liable for disputes about the order itself, such as non-delivery or faulty goods, and repays the provider when it loses.

Do BNPL payments increase fraud?

BNPL payments do not create fraud, but fast approval, lighter credit checks and delayed repayment give bad actors more room to try. BNPL fraud usually shows up as account takeover, synthetic identities and false disputes. Screening orders before fulfillment cuts most of the merchant's exposure.

Can a scammer take out a BNPL loan in someone else's name?

Yes. Scammers can open BNPL accounts with stolen or synthetic identities, or take over an existing account through phishing. For merchants, the warning signs are new accounts, disposable phone numbers or emails, address changes after checkout and drop addresses for delivery.

How do I prevent fraud with buy now pay later?

To prevent fraud with buy now pay later, screen each BNPL order between checkout and fulfillment, ship only to the address the provider approved, and keep proof of delivery. Respond to every provider dispute before its deadline with order and delivery records. The BNPL provider handles credit checks, so the merchant focuses on the order and the shipment.

How do you dispute a buy now pay later charge?

A shopper disputes a buy now pay later charge through the BNPL provider's app or website, not through a card issuer. The provider then notifies the merchant, who can accept the claim or submit evidence before the provider's deadline. The provider makes the final decision.