Prime Day encourages third-party sellers to inflate pre-sale prices to create the illusion of a deep discount. While not Amazon's direct action, this practice of "fakeflation" erodes customer trust in the entire platform, turning a key marketing event into a significant brand liability.

Identifying unauthorized sellers on platforms like Amazon is the easy part. Getting them removed requires building a massive, forensic-level data file that documents every instance of violation. This court-ready evidence is necessary to compel platforms to take action against bad actors.

Companies profit not just from the initial sale (cash up front) and unredeemed balances. A third, often overlooked, profit source is consumer overspending. Shoppers typically spend 30-40% more than the card's value to use the remaining balance, a phenomenon called "top-off tension."

Ridge Wallet's CEO explains a key mechanic of TikTok Shop's success: affiliates are incentivized to make bold and sometimes outrageous claims that the brand itself would not. This creates a regulatory gray area where creators can promise things like "anxiety-reducing hoodies" or "testosterone gummies," driving impulse buys without direct brand liability.

Advocates often incorrectly label all gift card payment requests as scams. This reflects a class-based blind spot, as they misunderstand the legitimate use of "alternative financial services" like gift cards by unbanked or underbanked populations for whom they are a necessary payment rail.

Unlike other tech verticals, fintech platforms cannot claim neutrality and abdicate responsibility for risk. Providing robust consumer protections, like the chargeback process for credit cards, is essential for building the user trust required for mass adoption. Without that trust, there is no incentive for consumers to use the product.

Companies intentionally create friction ("sludge")—like long waits and complex processes—not from incompetence, but to discourage customers from pursuing claims or services they are entitled to. This is the insidious counterpart to behavioral "nudge" theory.

Unlike debit cards protected by Regulation E, gift cards are intentionally exempted from strong consumer protection laws. This carve-out, lobbied for by retailers to ease commerce, removes the legal requirement for financial institutions to investigate fraud and reimburse victims, shifting the entire loss to the consumer.

Online fraud has evolved into a massive shadow economy. The global scam industry is estimated to steal approximately $500 billion from victims worldwide each year, a figure that dwarfs many legitimate industries and highlights the significant, and often underestimated, economic threat posed by digital fraudsters.