When America’s wealthy youngsters see a steal of a deal, they take it — literally. According to a new study, Gen Z consumers earning over $100K annually have emerged as key players in “digital shoplifting,” with 55% admitting to deliberately deceiving online merchants in the past year. The phenomenon has created an unusual paradox where higher-income shoppers are more likely to commit online theft than their lower-income counterparts, per antifraud tech company Socure.

• Among those surveyed, 33% earning $100K+ engaged in first-party fraud, compared to just 18% of the general population — suggesting affluence, not necessity, drives this trend.
• Online returns have skyrocketed to 17.6% of purchases in 2023 from 8.8% in 2019, with merchants losing $145M in merchandise returns for every $1B in sales.

What’s driving this surge? A mix of social media-fueled “hacks,” economic justification, and a dash of Robin Hood mentality. According to Socure, 63% of offenders rationalize their actions by believing large retailers can absorb the losses. Meanwhile, retailers like AmazonAMZN

, REI, and TargetTGT

are tightening return policies to combat the trend — walking a tightrope between preventing fraud and maintaining customer loyalty. Socure’s fraud expert Ori Snir predicts these numbers are set to continue climbing as more people discover how easy it is to game the system.