If you are the owner of the store, you should know that you are responsible for preventing fraud on your trading platform. Today, crimes in online stores are not uncommon. This brings about $ 16 billion in total losses annually. And when online fraud occurs, the seller is responsible. This means that your store may suffer significant losses due to financial liability. You can protect yourself (and your profit) using the tips below.
As you may know, card issuers have begun issuing EMV-enabled chip cards. These technologies are useful as they help reduce fraudulent activity. Over the many years of the existence of online trading, it has been concluded that scammers tend to use the path of least resistance or minimal risk to themselves. This means that although cards with chips are being actively issued, criminals will use electronic money transfers and credit cards. This allows you to develop the right strategy against the actions of attackers.
Credit card refunds and goods lost as a result of fraudulent transactions result in losses. For many small businesses, this can lead to serious financial and operational pressures.
It is important that you know what a high-risk order looks like before you decide to make a payment on a transaction and send products. Its features may vary depending on your business model. Chargebacks can sometimes occur several months after the date of transaction. At this point, you can’t do anything, since the products were shipped and you didn’t receive the proceeds.
As an e-commerce seller, it is important to be aware of credit card fraud. If you are new to this area or you are just lucky not to encounter such problems, know that now is the time to pay attention to the process of checking orders for fraud before it is too late.
Be especially careful when addresses do not match.
One of the clear signs of fraud is the fact that the billing address and delivery address in the order do not match. Of course, this does not always mean fraud (some people will send the purchase to their work address or to family members). But if the addresses are different, it does not hurt to double-check the order again.
Always check your billing address before shipping.
If you have created an online store based on the Volusion platform, the system automatically checks orders by streets and zip codes. But even when the order passes the check, you must see where you ship the products. If the order needs to be sent outside of your usual service area, or it is sent to another country, you should double-check everything to make sure that nothing else looks suspicious.
If this is your first time getting a very large order, this could also be a sign of fraud. In this case, the client may also request to send the order to an address other than the billing address.
Perform an independent search
If the order looks a little strange, you can always browse the phone number or billing address. It can be as simple as entering customer information on Google and see what happens.If the results show that the client is a real person, you will not have doubts, you probably should go for this deal. But if there is no customer information, the system finds a strange address, you should again double-check everything carefully.
IP address and provider
Make sure that the client’s IP address (a unique number assigned to the computer) and the ISP’s address are close to the billing address. To do this, use the appropriate tools. If the billing address is in Poland, but the IP address is in Russia, these are most likely scammers.
Beware of orders from certain parts of the globe
Some parts of the world are increasingly becoming a source of fraudulent transactions. Keep track of international orders from high-risk regions. These are Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central America.
Watch for unsuccessful attempts to place an order
If the buyer tried to form several unsuccessful orders in your store, there is a high probability that he may try to deceive you. If you noticed that the transaction had several previous rejected attempts, and that each of them used a different billing address and credit card number, you are probably dealing with an attacker.
Look at the IP address
Keep track of orders with a source IP address that is located in another state. In addition, Volusion IP Firewall monitors traffic to your storefront and your administrative area, blocking malicious and dubious visitors.
Look at the email address
Beware of email addresses that contain random sequences of characters, especially addresses provided through free services such as Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail. Of course, many people use these services, but if the email resembles something like “frj7999264@gmail.com”, it may be from an attacker.
Look at the name of the card holder
Pay attention to any order in which the name of the owner of the mailbox and the card holder is different. Often scammers steal payment information, but use their personal email address to track product movements.
Non-cooperation
It is important that you have a transaction archive. You can refuse to cooperate if something seems suspicious to you. You may have an order that looks completely harmless, but something in it worries you. As the owner of the store, you have the right to contact the buyer if you have any questions or problems. If in doubt, call the client, ask him some questions and trust your intuition! The most honest customers will appreciate your diligence. Even when you do business in the digital world, nothing can replace human interaction.