At 50 Locations,
Delivery Fraud Isn't
a Nuisance — It's a P&L Line.
QSR and fast casual chains have done everything right: optimized the menu, trained the staff, nailed the ops. But at scale, even a 1% uncontested dispute rate across dozens of locations costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And right now, you have no proof to fight back with.
increase in fast food fraud in 2024 alone — a trend accelerating across QSR delivery channels
surge in account takeover attacks targeting QSR loyalty programs year-over-year in 2025
per location in contested delivery refunds reported by one major fast food franchisee
projected annual chargebacks by 2026 — up from 238M in 2023, per Ethoca industry data
Scale Amplifies
Every Weakness
What's a manageable problem for a single-location operator becomes a systemic loss for a chain. Here's what QSR and fast casual operators face that solo restaurants don't.
Franchise Inconsistency Becomes Liability
With dozens of franchise operators, each location handles disputes differently — or not at all. Some fight every claim. Most absorb them silently. The result: no consistent defense posture, no aggregate data, and no ability to identify locations being systematically targeted.
No standardized dispute processHigh-Traffic Locations Are Magnets for Fraud Rings
Busy QSR locations process hundreds of delivery orders daily. Organized fraud rings — not just opportunistic customers — specifically target high-volume chains because the sheer number of orders makes individual claims look statistically normal and hard to correlate.
Fraud rings target QSR volumeStaff Turnover Means Zero Institutional Memory
QSR turnover averages 150% annually. The employee who packed Order #7731 at 6:45 PM probably doesn't work there anymore. Without a visual record, there's no one to verify what went into that bag — and no way to dispute the claim three days later.
150% avg. annual staff turnoverCorporate Can't See What Franchisees Are Absorbing
Individual franchise operators often eat refund losses without reporting them upward — it's faster than disputing. Corporate sees healthy top-line sales but has no visibility into how much is being silently eroded at the location level by refund abuse.
Hidden losses at every locationThe Math Doesn't Lie: Scale Turns Small Problems Into Big Numbers
A McDonald's franchisee reported contesting an average of $500 per month per location in delivery refunds. At a 30-location chain, that's $15,000 monthly in dispute-eligible losses — and that assumes you're even disputing them. Most operators aren't.
at 30 locations × $500/mo
Delivery Fraud at
QSR Scale
Estimated $6 Billion in Annual Losses
Restaurants across the industry lose an estimated $4–6 billion annually to fraud. For chains with dozens or hundreds of locations processing thousands of daily delivery orders, the exposure is material enough to show up in quarterly reviews.
4-in-5 Disputed Chargebacks: Fraud
Between 60% and 80% of all chargebacks are now classified as first-party fraud — customers who received their order but disputed it anyway. For QSR chains, this means most of the disputes you're paying for represent completed orders that walked out your door.
Fast Food Fraud Up 50% in One Year
In 2024, fraud targeting fast food and QSR delivery channels grew by nearly 50%. This isn't a gradual trend — it's a rapid escalation that outpaced most chains' ability to respond with updated dispute processes.
Account Takeover Attacks: Up 72%
QSR loyalty programs are now a primary target. ATO attacks surged 72% year-over-year in 2025, with fraudsters exploiting reward balances and stored payment credentials — all while the legitimate customer eventually files a chargeback.
Most Brands Don't Dispute at All
"The process to file is so complicated and time-consuming that most restaurant brands just end up not filing it at all," noted Voosh CEO Priyam Saraswat. At scale, this means chains are writing off millions in losses that could be contested with the right evidence.
337 Million Chargebacks Expected in 2026
Ethoca projects annual chargebacks across all industries will hit 337 million in 2026, up from 238 million in 2023. Food delivery is among the fastest-growing chargeback categories — a trend that won't reverse without structural solutions.
Standardized Proof.
Across Every Location.
PlatePal gives QSR and fast casual chains a consistent, scalable system for capturing and disputing delivery fraud — without adding complexity to already demanding kitchen workflows.
Deploy Once Across All Locations
PlatePal installs in under an hour per location. One camera at the order pickup area, connected to the cloud. No POS integration required. Corporate can roll it out as an ops standard without disrupting individual franchise workflows.
Every Order Documented Automatically
Each order gets a timestamped photo at handoff — tagged to order number, location, and platform. No staff training required beyond a two-minute orientation. The system runs passively in the background.
Centralized Dispute Management
Corporate or regional managers can see dispute activity across all locations — identifying which stores are being targeted, which platforms are generating the most claims, and where to apply additional pressure.
Deterrence at Scale
As your dispute win rate increases, fraudsters move on. At chain scale, this deterrence effect compounds — a 0.5% reduction in dispute rate across 50 locations can mean $30,000+ returned to your P&L annually.
Estimates based on $500/location/month in contested delivery refunds reported by franchisees. Actual figures vary by location volume, platform mix, and dispute rate. Does not include fees, time costs, or uncontested losses.
Turn Delivery Fraud
Into a Solved Problem
PlatePal is accepting fast casual and QSR chains into our closed pilot. Get standardized visual proof across every location — and start recovering losses that have been slipping through uncontested.
Join Our Closed PilotMulti-location operators welcome · Works across all delivery platforms · No POS integration required