Thanks to the ongoing evergreen pandemic, most of our lives have been shut within our home doors. Stepping outside of the home is not even an option. Even though luckily still many if not most of us are able to make money through the comfort of the internet, we cannot grow vegetables, or prepare our own groceries inside our homes. And to buy it including several other things like clothing, stationery, and many others we depend on eCommerce. By now, many of us are quite comfortable using it but still, there is a majority out there who do not have the same amount of knowledge. This article is to educate online shopping portals on how to protect such people from online fraud.

Yes, the very frauds and scams that are done in real life can be replicated online as well. In fact, they can be so cleverly fabricated which will make them tough to identify. As an eCommerce owner, it is your responsibility to protect your customers from such frauds and report the fraudsters to the higher authorities in your county. Here are some tips to make your portal a haven and protect your customers.

Better SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Better SEO will not only enable your portal more and get a higher number of customers to it, but it will also protect your customers from falling victims to fake websites. It is very common for online fraudsters to create fake websites which will look like absolute ditto of the original one and use it to collect information.

These fake websites typically will have superior SEO on top of the ones which you use, leading to instantly attracting many of your consumers to it. These types of fraud are very dangerous since they can collect all the data that your customer is willing to share with you, i.e. their payment details and even more, which will bring a terrible name to your business. As a result, it is important to check regularly for such fake websites and keep updating your SEO constantly to stay top in the game.

Having 2FA Enabled before Purchase

2-Factor Authorization is a method in which the user’s confirmation is done twice on two different mediums to make sure that the decision was made by that person. This improves security by a great deal. By having 2FA enabled, your portal will instantly be protected from identity thefts.

In the case of a customer of yours getting caught in an online phishing fraud and unfortunately loses their payment information, and the online fraud uses those payment methods to purchase some expensive product from you. The credit card company of the user can initiate a chargeback and you will be forced to return the money with no obligation to return the merchandise. So, having 2FA enabled is not only protecting you from identity theft fraud but is also protecting you, customers, from losing their money in the first place. Having 2-factor authentication on your online shopping web store is a great way to take care of your shoppers.

Card Not Present fraud (CNP)

CNP fraud occurs when criminals steal data such as payment information or account logins and attempt to use it to make a purchase (Card Not Present). If the transaction is made from an unfamiliar geographical location, IP address, or a different computer that is inconsistent with the customer’s previous behavior, merchants may identify and prevent this type of online fraud. There are also many machine-learning-based solutions to prevent this.

Device Takeover Fraud

Online fraudsters will call a victim posing as a representative of a legitimate company. They would say that they need remote access to the victim’s computer to fix a problem, and then demand the victim’s credit card information to pay for the service. Once the victim has been duped into giving the online fraudster access to their laptop, they will take it over. Based on the customer’s digital fingerprint and geographical data points, any purchase or financial transaction appears to be valid from this point forward. This mask allows fraudsters a window of opportunity to make as many transactions as possible.

Social Engineering Fraud

Online fraudsters will call victims on the phone, saying that they have a warrant out for their arrest or that they owe money on a tax bill. This is known as ‘Social Engineering,’ and online fraudsters can convince the victim that they can stop it by making a payment online, then trick them into purchasing merchandise for the online fraudsters using their own credit cards. These products are frequently virtual gift cards that can be emailed to scammers.

These scams are popular because they get around traditional fraud prevention mechanisms because the cardholder is the one making the transaction. These attacks are more likely to succeed since fraudsters use sophisticated social engineering and human psychology to deceive elderly victims, particularly if the victim is not tech-savvy and might be more trusting of individuals who present themselves as service providers.

It is the duty of retailers to try to prevent these scams. Since online fraud is a lucrative crime that will never go away, online retailers must always be prepared to combat it. Merchants who do not fight risk losing their business and their prestige.

Retailers can benefit by learning about the latest fraud patterns in their sector. They should educate their employees about social engineering and common scams so that they can empathize with victims and avoid falling prey to them, particularly if fraudsters attempt to place orders with phone operatives.

eCommerce retailers may also provide “stop-points” in the purchasing process, such as pop-ups or warning messages, that allow the victim to reconsider a purchase or provide additional details about popular or ongoing scams. This assists the victim in paying attention, becoming more mindful of their actions, and questioning the fraudster’s demands.

It is of the highest importance for the retailer to protect their customers from online frauds and report such fraudsters. But unfortunately, online fraudsters are getting more and more creative and users are not. It is of utmost importance that we turn the tide and give a tough fight. This can be started by online portals creating awareness on online fraudulent safety and by incorporating as many safety protections in your portal as possible. Retailers can also leverage on artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify online frauds and protect their customers from it. This way their users will experience smooth and safe transactions from shopping online from their website and ultimately be advocates about it.