How to Fight Fraud on Your Ecommerce Site

Making money online is pretty easy, and getting conned is equally as easy too. If you own an ecommerce site, you need to be extra cautious in dealing with customers. The following are some helpful suggestions on how you can fight fraud on your ecommerce site:

> Be sure to put up fraud notices on your website.

Clearly state that necessary action will be taken against all violators. By doing so, you will be sending out an open message to scammers to keep off. Most importantly, this will tell scammers that you can track them through their email and IP addresses. The thought of this will be enough to keep them off.

> Analyze all your orders carefully.

Instincts always work best in business. Always trust your instincts whenever you come across suspicious orders. Check them out thoroughly to put your doubts to rest. Look out for signs like:

* Orders that don?t seem to be keen on the features of the specific product in question.

* If several orders are being placed for the same expensive item.

* Large orders that are requesting urgent overnight shipping or delivery.

These are some red flags you should always keep in mind. Most importantly, make sure that the customers fill out all the compulsory fields on the order information forms.

> Perform AVS (Address Verification Services) on every transaction.

This will help you make sure that the information provided by the customer matches that of the information on the file of the card or payment issuing bank. However, this service doesn?t work for countries outside the US. This means that you cannot exclude all orders that have different addresses, unless you?re running a business locally within the US.

> Get the card verification numbers and expiry dates.

Credit cards, master cards and visa cards generally have 3-digit security numbers at their back sides, and expiry dates at their front sides. Make sure you verify these codes and dates before authenticating any delivery. Make sure that each and every digit matches. If customers are providing account numbers to make payments, make sure that the account number is correct.

> Be extremely cautious when handling orders from abroad.

Most fraudulent cases originate from overseas countries. The most fraudulent activities are usually reported to originate from African and Asian countries. Always be extra cautious about accepting orders from such countries.

> Be sure to use software that help prevent fraud.

There are several fraud prevention software out there in the market, which help track any fraudulent activities automatically. Make sure you get authentic software. Master card and visa card also provide free tools that help in fraud detection. You can also use those as alternatives.

Over the last 3 years, Richard has been working on the Magento Enterprise platform developing large ecommerce sites. Aside from work, Richard is a regular blog contributor for several sites.