A numeric-based machine learning design for detecting organized retail fraud in digital marketplaces

Mutemi, A., & Bacao, F. (2023). A numeric-based machine learning design for detecting organized retail fraud in digital marketplaces. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-16. [12499]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38304-5Organized retail crime (ORC) is a significant issue for retailers, marketplace platforms, and consumers. Its prevalence and influence have increased fast in lockstep with the expansion of online commerce, digital devices, and communication platforms. Today, it is a costly affair, wreaking havoc on enterprises’ overall revenues and continually jeopardizing community security. These negative consequences are set to rocket to unprecedented heights as more people and devices connect to the Internet. Detecting and responding to these terrible acts as early as possible is critical for protecting consumers and businesses while also keeping an eye on rising patterns and fraud. The issue of detecting fraud in general has been studied widely, especially in financial services, but studies focusing on organized retail crimes are extremely rare in literature. To contribute to the knowledge base in this area, we present a scalable machine learning strategy for detecting and isolating ORC listings on a prominent marketplace platform by merchants committing organized retail crimes or fraud. We employ a supervised learning approach to classify postings as fraudulent or real based on past data from buyer and seller behaviors and transactions on the platform. The proposed framework combines bespoke data preprocessing procedures, feature selection methods, and state-of-the-art class asymmetry resolution techniques to search for aligned classification algorithms capable of discriminating between fraudulent and legitimate listings in this context. Our best detection model obtains a recall score of 0.97 on the holdout set and 0.94 on the out-of-sample testing data set. We achieve these results based on a select set of 45 features out of 58.publishersversionpublishe

Non-fungible Tokens - Exploring Suspicious Washtrader Communities in NFT Networks

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) have received increased attention since 2021. NFTs can be susceptible to fraudulent activities such as washtrading or trading of counterfeit digital assets. Such behaviors threaten the trust in this new trading space and for this reason, NFT skeptics are suspicious of the true values of highly priced digital assets. In this paper, we propose a two-step methodological approach to identify washtraded assets, and the suspicious communities of washtraders. Our approach uses bipartite graph characteristics to provide an efficient algorithm that does not require computationally intensive methods. We also identify the challenges in this stream of research and propose suggestions to address those challenges. Our method demonstrates practical applicability on real life networks of NFT transactions and opens doors for several future directions for investigating and exploring the communities of suspicious washtrading actors

Exploring Information Disclosure In Online Auctions

This research examines how a seller’s reputation score and auction pre-configuration affects people’s participation in communication within online auction communities. A leading horizontal intermediary auction platform is used to conduct this research. Its seller “feedback” mechanism and “ask seller a question” forum are chosen as representatives of post- and intra-transactional information disclosure. A self-developed classification approach is used to classify the buyer-initiated questions. The results of multinomial logistic regression indicate that product quality, shipment and payment issues are aspects that concern buyers the most in the early stages of an auction. Subsequently, their attention is likely to shift to seller credibility and price negotiations as listing durations get longer. In terms of the influ- ence of seller feedback ratings, our findings suggest that lower-rated traders are more likely to be asked questions about product description and seller credibility. Buyer concern about seller uncertainty is only alleviated if the seller has a good reputation. Even medium-rated sellers are suspected of being opportunistic. Moreover, buyers are more willing to discuss transaction-related issues and raise negotiation-associated questions with sellers who have already achieved high reputation scores. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications are elaborated

Managing Customer Complaints in Online Auction Markets

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies managers in the online auction industry used to manage customer complaints to improve customer satisfaction. The targeted population consisted of 4 managers of online auction companies in the southwestern region of the United States. The conceptual framework for the study was Argyris and Sch�n\u27s double-loop learning theory. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with business managers, observation of company operations and behaviors, review of documentation, and member-checking activities. Data analysis consisted of text interpretation of data and notes using coding techniques. Data analysis resulted in 5 themes: business orientation, customer purview, complaints handling, coping strategies, and learning abilities. The implications of this study for positive social change include facilitating the growth of online markets and increasing lower-cost purchasing opportunities for consumers with limited access to conventional marketplaces

A Holmes and Doyle Bibliography, Volume 6: Periodical Articles, Subject Listing, By De Waal Category

This bibliography is a work in progress. It attempts to update Ronald B. De Waal’s comprehensive bibliography, The Universal Sherlock Holmes, but does not claim to be exhaustive in content. New works are continually discovered and added to this bibliography. Readers and researchers are invited to suggest additional content. Volume 6 presents the periodical literature arranged by subject categories (as originally devised for the De Waal bibliography and slightly modified here)

Peppermint Kings: A Rural American History

Explores rural history through the experiences of three families that dominated the American peppermint oil business from its beginning in the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. The rural entrepreneurs who became Peppermint Kings acted in ways that challenge traditional historical depictions of rural people. The freethinking Ranney clan built a family business that extended from Massachusetts to western New York and Michigan during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Hotchkiss brothers entered the international market and ventured into finance and banking at a time when the United States government was reducing opportunities for regional bankers. Albert May Todd brought science to peppermint farming and distilling, and advocated progressive and socialist causes as a politician and organizer of the Municipal Ownership League of America. The Peppermint Kings’ stories not only demonstrate the remarkable agency of rural people, but offer insights into how rural Americans responded to broader social changes that have typically been viewed from a predominantly urban perspective

Character on Trial: Reading and Judgement in Henry Fielding's Works

To be placed above the Reach of Deceit is to be placed above the Rank of a human Being - Henry Fielding, A Clear State of the Case of Elizabeth Canning, 1753. Throughout his literary and legal careers, Fielding was concerned with the difficulties of reading and judging character accurately. He saw society as being rife with deceptive and duplicitous individuals and articulated his concerns in his writing, offering various advices to his readers. This thesis examines Fielding’s changing approaches to characterization and his proposed methods for judging character. There is a strong tradition within Fielding criticism, particularly prevalent in the mid-twentieth century, of seeing Fielding’s characters as ‘essential’, that is to say, innate and unchanging: the product of his theory of ‘Conservation of Character’. As such, his characters are often deemed easy-to-read and lacking fully-determined internal lives. Since the mid-1990s, however, critics have begun to argue that his characters are more dynamic than first supposed. While critics have noted the role of judgement in Fielding’s novels, it has not yet been explored in depth in his plays. With some notable exceptions, few studies have explored the interrelation between his novels and plays in a sustained way. I argue that Fielding examines questions of discerning character in both his plays and his novels, and that the early plays are essential for understanding the concepts which are central to his theory of judgement. This thesis contributes to studies of Fielding in three ways: by intervening in long-standing discussions of Fielding’s characterization; by analysing themes of good nature, perception and gossip which develop from his early dramatic work into the better-known novels; and by exploring its relationship to wider ideas about character in the eighteenth-century theatre and novel. Beginning with his plays, I consider Fielding’s presentation of the judgement of character in a range of his works from 1728-1753. I suggest that the early plays gave Fielding the space in which to experiment with the presentation of character and his relationship to his audience. His novels build upon concepts first introduced in the plays, such as good nature, perception and gossip, which he suggests are key to perceiving character. Fielding encourages his audiences and readers to engage with character as a process of discovery (as it is in life), but does not punish or mock them when they make mistakes. In doing so, he gives his audiences and readers indulgences he could ill afford in his magisterial career: time for judgement and the luxury of occasionally being proved wrong