Tips to Combat Credit Card Fraud for Your PrestaShop Store

Frauds are one of the major concerns of all the eCommerce businesses regardless of whether you’re an eCommerce giant or a small-sized online business, you’re at risk. The risk of hacking and phishing is always there.

By the year 2021, worldwide retail eCommerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion, increasing online fraudsters’ incentives to innovate their tactics.

As much these stats inspire and give you a ray of hope, they should also jolt your business sense into realizing that eCommerce fraud is an issue and that you need to protect your business at all costs.

What you can do at your end to minimize the probability of your website getting hacked or the fraudsters stealing your consumer’s data including personal and payment details from your database matters the most.

Well, before we start with the tips to combat fraud, let’s have a look at

Who’s at Risk of Online Fraud?
Hackers love websites that aren’t regularly updated and maintained for a long time. Thus, it is recommended to frequently update your website.

Moreover, eCommerce stores are at the risk of losing the customer’s data in wrong hands in case of any security lapse. Thus, installing the latest security patches on your site will help you to safeguard the website from the attacks of malicious software and safeguard the customer’s data.

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This said and done, it’s time to discover what needs to be monitored in case of an attempted fraud. In layman’s language, how will you know when any credit card fraud is happening on your site?

Yes, there are some signs that give a clue and you should definitely pay attention to these signs.

We’ve listed some potential indicators of transactions that are very likely to be attempted credit card fraud.

Indicators of Credit/Debit Card Fraud
Any abnormal transaction pattern that deters from the normal purchase behaviour of your client is a sure shot signal and is enough to alert you.

• An order whose quantity is larger than normal
• First-time customers (this doesn’t necessarily mean fraud but certainly requires an intense check)
• An order where the delivery address and the billing addressare different
• Any previously rejected orders before a successful order, especially if the billing information or card number has been changed in subsequent order attempts
• IP-addresses that aren’t in the same area as the billing information
• Email addresses where the customer’s name in the email address does not match with the name provided in the billing information

These are just some of the common yet most avoided things that you need to be aware of. These indicators do not necessarily mean that you are dealing with a fraudster. Even so, you must be aware of them before shipping out an order.

Let’s get straight to

Tips for Combatting Card Fraud

Scrutinize the Transaction Behaviour
It’s highly crucial to know your customers. This implies knowing and identifying what a normal purchase in your webshop usually looks like. This could be anything from the time of day you see most activity to the products being purchased or the amounts of money being spent. In addition, it is always important to be aware of anything that may seem too good to be true. If this is the case, go with your gut.

You can choose to investigate any specific transaction, that doesn’t seem normal, by finding out if the name and the address match. Further, take a look at the IP address to know the location and identify if the purchase is legitimate or a scammer is trying to trick you.

In addition to this, you also have the option of using the AVS system (Address Verification Service) which is specifically meant to identify credit card fraud on the internet. It helps compare the billing address with the address in the records of the credit card company. Be careful with the differences in billing and shipping addresses, especially when the customer insists on expedited shipping.

Note: Sometimes different billing and shipping addresses may just mean that your customer is purchasing a gift for someone and sending it to a different address.

Use a Fraud Detection System
A fraud detection system scans transactions and scores them based on the probability of fraud. It takes into consideration several factors including user behavior, device ID, IP address, etc. The data is then compared to “normal” attributes; if the transaction is considered valid, it is permitted and processed. In case the transaction has a risk score above a certain limit, a warning is issued and it is rejected automatically.

Luckily, PrestaShop offers a number of these systems such as NS8 Protect and Clearhaus. These are among the best tools to combat fraud, and it’s usually just a matter of a tick to enable them on your payment gateway.

Use 3D-Secure
Today, 3D-Secure is one of the best tools available against credit card fraud. Where many shops previously were a bit reluctant on enabling it, it is now used by almost any big retailer and has become a norm.

3D-Secure is a term for the two security standards Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode. It can be activated in your store’s payment system and adds extra security steps to the payment process. Your customer receives a code by SMS which must be entered immediately after the customer enters his or her credit card information.

This not only significantly increases the security but prevents you from any loss since the issuing bank of the card assumes the risk when using 3D secure.

Use Tracking Numbers for All Orders
Tracking numbers help to protect your business from chargeback fraud. Also known as friendly fraud, it occurs when a customer requests the return of funds from a merchant, which is forcibly initiated by the issuing bank. In this case, the merchant is held accountable regardless of the measures taken to verify the transaction.

Additionally, merchants usually have to pay the transaction fees including the fees associated with the removal of fraudulent funds out of the merchant’s banking account.

Get an SSL-Certificate
You need to secure your store in every possible way. Thus, the payment page cannot be neglected. You can secure this page with an SSL-certificate in your name, which can be implemented on your webshop. This ensures security against any hacking and credit card fraud.

Further, it also makes your customer feel safe since many buyers prefer stores who own an SSL certificate.

Strong Passwords
Ask your customers to use complicated passwords for logging into their accounts. A password setup should require at least one capitalization and one special character. Better passwords ensure better protection from fraud and hacking.

It’s time to be aware of spammers and give them a cold shoulder by implementing best practices. After all, your PrestaShop store demands due care , concern and safety.

Presta Web Developer provides reliable support and maintenance services to ensure that your Prestashop store is always safe & secure.