Whether you’re a card issuer or merchant, you’ve likely suffered many losses due to e-commerce fraud. These instances have probably led to a seemingly endless stream of dissatisfied customers. When someone steals a customer’s card information, it not only puts the customer in a difficult position, but it puts your business in a tough predicament as well. You may feel like you have no control over e-commerce fraud, but it’s important to be aware that you can take certain measures to prevent it.
Keep Software Up-to-date
When it comes to ecommerce fraud prevention, one of the first things you should do is make sure you update platforms and software. If you can’t remember to regularly update your software, set up automatic updates. This is so important because outdated software can create breaches in security, which makes your website more vulnerable to hackers and fraudulent transactions.
Use Fraud Protection Software
Fraud protection software like Ethoca cnp solutions can be effective in preventing e-commerce fraud. This software detects high-risk transactions and analyzes other risk factors that may indicate a transaction is fraudulent.
Monitor Transactions
Knowing customers who spend the most money and being familiar with their buying patterns can help you keep track of transactions that may appear unusual. Red flags for fraudulent transactions include:
- Inconsistent billing
- Shipping information
- Physical location
Another red flag may be customer IP addresses from countries where e-commerce fraud is common. Also, some fraudsters use free or anonymous email addresses such as Gmail and Yahoo. According to the FBI’s Common Fraud Schemes, more fraud tends to come from free email service providers than from paid ones.
Create Stricter Password Requirements
Hackers can easily penetrate accounts with weaker passwords. This is why it’s so important to require your customers to create strong passwords that are at least eight characters long. Passwords with capitalization, numbers and special characters are harder for hackers to guess. Whereas, hackers will more easily guess passwords without these requirements.
Protecting your business is key to ensuring growth and generating revenue. However, protecting your customers is just as important. After all, they should be the center of your business because your products are geared towards their needs and satisfaction. By preventing e-commerce fraud, you’ll not only gain more trust with your customers, but you’ll also be able to reduce chargebacks. Now that you have a better understanding of how to prevent e-commerce fraud, you can stay on top of unusual activity and protect the interests of your company and customers.
