The high cost of cheap clothes: Unraveling fraud in fast fashion

Fast fashion’s high-volume, low-cost model creates systemic opportunities for fraud. The industry’s fragmented global supply chain and weak oversight allow undervaluation, transshipment, greenwashing and platform-enabled counterfeiting to persist on a massive scale. Emerging regulatory responses and enforcement trends show promise in helping fraud examiners identify red flags, assess compliance gaps and investigate fraud within complex international trade environments.