Category Aware Risk
The Category-Aware Risk module (shown in Settings as Product Risk Intelligence) catches a pattern most fraud-detection systems miss: return behavior means something different depending on what is being returned. A high return rate on apparel is often just sizing; the same rate on serial-numbered electronics or low-resale items is a different story. Rather than adding a second penalty on top of return abuse, the module tells the Returns module how much weight each customer’s returns deserve.
Module ID: categories. Default: enabled. Free tier (complete).
What It Observes #
The module hooks into order placement and refund events (including edited and deleted refunds). For each event the module:
- Iterates over the line items of the order or refund
- Records a product fact per line item in
{prefix}trustlens_product_facts: product and SKU, its WooCommerce categories, order value, refunded value and quantity, and — where your store provides them — cost of goods, resale value and whether the item is serial-controlled - Updates per-category counters in
{prefix}trustlens_category_stats: orders containing the category, refunds containing the category (once per order), and refund value attributable to the category - Keeps refund value that WooCommerce can’t map to a line item in a separate “unattributed” bucket
Product facts are read from your products: cost of goods from common COGS meta keys (_trustlens_cogs, _wc_cog_cost and similar), resale value from _trustlens_resale_value, and serial control from _trustlens_serial_required. Integrations can adjust the stored facts with the trustlens/product_risk_fact filter.
What It Signals #
The module emits no signal of its own — it never adds a separate penalty, so a return is never punished twice. Instead it produces a product-risk multiplier that the Returns signal is scaled by, from 0.5× (returns weigh half as much) to 2× (returns weigh double). With default settings and no special product facts, the multiplier is 1.0× for every category.
When the multiplier differs from 1.0, the Returns reason text says so, for example “Product risk multiplier: 1.25× — high SKU return rate”.
The Weight System #
Category weights are how you tell TrustLens which categories matter most. Every category starts at 1.00× — Normal; there are no built-in category defaults. To make returns in a category count for more, raise its weight; to make them count for less, lower it.
Configure weights in Settings → Refunds → Product Risk by Category. The screen lists your WooCommerce product categories (plus a Default / uncategorized row) with a dropdown each:
| Option | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Low | 0.50× |
| Reduced | 0.75× |
| Normal (default) | 1.00× |
| Elevated | 1.25× |
| High | 1.50× |
| Critical | 2.00× |
The Default / uncategorized row is used for products with no category. When a product sits in several categories, the highest weight applies.
Why Weights Matter #
Set Shoes to 0.75× and Luxury to 1.50×, and the same pattern of returns costs a shoe buyer half as many points as a luxury buyer. Without weights, TrustLens would treat both identically and over-flag shoe-buying customers while under-flagging luxury returners.
How to Pick Weights #
The recommended approach: look at your store-wide return rate per category. Categories where the store-wide rate is significantly above your overall average should get weights < 1.0 (because elevated rates there are normal). Categories where the store-wide rate is below average and items are high-value should get weights > 1.0 (because elevated rates there are unusual and expensive).
Settings #
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Product Risk by Category | 1.00× for every category | Per-category multiplier, 0.50×–2.00× (Settings → Refunds) |
| Module enabled | On | Master toggle (the Product Risk Intelligence card in Settings → Detection) |
The Product Risk Intelligence card on the Detection tab shows how many categories you’ve customized and links to the Refunds screen. With many categories, a filter box helps you find the one you want.
Common Patterns #
The Category-Specific Wardrober #
Signature: Customer has 8 orders, 4 refunds. All 4 refunds are from “Cocktail Dresses,” which you’ve set to 1.50× — High.
Signals: One Returns signal: the 50% rate earns its tier points (plus any wardrobing evidence), and the total is multiplied by 1.5 before the -50 cap.
Profile: Risk or Critical. The multiplier line in the reason text shows the category weighting.
The Defective Product Cluster #
Signature: Many different customers return the same product. The SKU’s own return rate climbs.
Detection: A SKU with a return rate of 50%+ across 3+ orders adds +0.15 to the multiplier of every customer who returned it (+0.08 at 30%+), so those customers’ Returns signals are weighted up.
Action: Investigate the SKU. Don’t penalize customers for legitimate returns of defective items — lower the category’s weight temporarily until the underlying issue is fixed.
The High-Value Item Returner #
Signature: Customer with a moderate overall return rate but all returns concentrated in a high-priced category.
Detection: If you’ve set a higher weight for that category, the Returns signal hits harder than the overall return rate alone would.
Profile: Caution to Risk depending on the magnitude.
How the Calculation Works #
Step by step for a single customer, each time the Returns signal is calculated:
- Read the customer’s refunded product facts
- For each refunded item, start from its category weight (the highest of its categories, or the Default weight)
- Add product adjustments: for a SKU with 3+ orders store-wide, +0.15 if its return rate is 50%+ (+0.08 at 30%+) and +0.10 if 10%+ of its orders were disputed; for any item, +0.08 if it is serial-controlled and +0.07 when its resale value is under 40% of its price
- Clamp each item’s factor to 0.5–2.0
- Average the factors, weighted by each item’s refunded value; unattributed refund value counts at the neutral 1.0
- Clamp the result to 0.5–2.0 and multiply the Returns raw points by it
Because the average is weighted by refund value, an expensive return in a high-weight category moves the multiplier more than a cheap one.
Where to See Category Data #
There is no category card on the Dashboard. Category and product context shows up in each customer’s Returns reason text (the multiplier line and the factors behind it), and a customer’s per-category stats are included in their WordPress personal-data export.
Use your WooCommerce reports and the Product Risk by Category screen to distinguish customer-side abuse from product-side issues. If a single category has a 40% store-wide return rate, the issue isn’t your customers — it’s the products. Fix the products (or lower the weight) before blocking the customers.
False-Positive Watch List #
- Wide categories with mixed product quality. A category like “All Sale Items” lumps together products with very different return profiles. Use more specific categories where possible.
- Recently-restocked categories with bad batches. A defective batch can spike returns for a few weeks. Tune the weight down temporarily.
- Products in several categories. The highest weight wins, so a product that is in both “Sale” and “Luxury” is weighted as Luxury.
- Mis-categorized products. If product taxonomy is messy, weights apply to the wrong items. Audit the WooCommerce category tree before tuning weights.
Disabling the Module #
Reasonable to disable if your store has a single product category or your category taxonomy is too messy to weight meaningfully. When disabled, the multiplier is a neutral 1.0× for everyone, so the Returns signal is unaffected by category or product context; new product facts and per-category stats stop updating, and the existing tables are preserved.
Reading the Categories Section of a Profile #
- Signal breakdown — there is no separate Categories row; look in the Returns reason text for the “Product risk multiplier” line and its drivers (high SKU return rate, chargeback-exposed SKU, serial-controlled merchandise, low resale recovery)
- Event timeline shows
category_refundevents with the refunded amount per category
Interaction with the Returns Module #
Categories and Returns are designed to work as one, not to duplicate each other:
- Returns measures how much a customer returns — rate, value and patterns, judged against your store baseline
- Categories decides how much that matters given what was returned
A customer is only ever penalized through the Returns signal; Categories can raise or lower that penalty but never adds one of its own. Together, the two produce a clearer picture than either alone: Returns tells you the magnitude, Categories tells you the context.
Updated on October 18, 2026
