Whether you are running an eCommerce store or planning to run one, there are many things to be concerned about, and one of them is eCommerce fraud and scams. From the past few years, the trends of online shopping from eCommerce stores have increased tremendously because of hassle-free services in a few clicks at the ease of sitting at your home. On the other hand, there are parallelly increasing eCommerce scams and frauds, with the potential to crash a well-established business.

What are eCommerce scams?

eCommerce scams are the unethical practices of getting financial benefit from eCommerce transactions and orders. Either by taking over the account access of customers and using it for unauthorized transactions or by accessing the databases of businesses and selling it for further unethical utilizations. And for doing so, scammers use numerous unethical practices. A few of them are, Phishing, injection attacks, Session Hijacking, DNS Spoofing, Denial of Service Attacks, URL interpretation, etc.

Security Tips to Keep Customer Data Secure

A few precautions and security measures can avert the chances of these eCommerce scams to a big extent. As the customer is the leading factor of a business to make it grow and flourish, it is crucial to keep customer’s data safe and secure while maintaining the integrity and security of data. Below are the few security measures which we should ensure and implement to run an eCommerce business smoothly.

1. Only use HTTPS Websites

The browsing session is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or, formerly, Secure Socket Layer (SSL). HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the secure version of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). HTTPS secures the data and information packets sent and received between your eCommerce store server and a customer’s browser by encrypting the whole session. We can say, “For the time, the whole session is secure and end-to-end encrypted.” It means the integrity and confidentiality of data remain maintained and secured.

Apart from the above said, here are few other advantages of using HTTPS

  • Google algorithm uses SSL as the ranking factor. It enhances your website search results in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) results and improves your rankings. It means the website that uses SSL will get the edge over the non-HTTPS website, which ultimately increases your reach on the internet and helps you lead in your business goals and aspirations.
  • Flags your website as trustworthy.
  • Online financial transactions are secure.
  • A grey padlock symbol next to your website makes the customer feel safe.

If you are wondering which SSL to invest in, we suggest that you go for cheap yet premium SSL certificates from reliable CAs such as Comodo SSL certificates, AlphaSSL certificate, GeoTrustSSL certificate, RapidSSL, Thawte SSL certificate, DigiCert SSL certificates etc.

2. Always adhere to PCI DSS compliances

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is an information security standard for organizations that handle credit cards. This standard was created to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce and avert credit card frauds.

3. Ask for CVV for every transaction

CVV or Card Verification Value is a three or four-digit code, usually printed back of the credit and debit cards which acts as a security code. So, you can prevent the fraud transaction by simply asking this code whenever a customer makes payment with their cards.

4. Always use 2-step verification or Multi-factor authentication

It is an additional security layer for accessing the accounts and databases. This can be implemented in numerous ways. Here, below are the few methods ;

  • Verifying a code sent over email or phone.
  • Binding only a single device with an account by properly verifying the details. So whenever an account is accessed from a different device, it needs to be verified again. As a security measure, to prove the ownership of an account.
  • Using Authenticator apps
  • Using a two-factor digitally signed security key.
  • By binding the registered SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card with the payment apps, like BHIM (Bharat Interface For Money) UPI (Unified Payment Interface) used in India, it limits the use of accounts to one device only.

5. Train your employees

Always remember, your employees are the backbone of your business. So, train and enhance their skills to make them vigilant enough to avert and tackle similar situations.

6. Keep track of all the orders

When a customer places an order, always track all the orders from being placed to final delivery. Subsequently, after successful delivery of the orders and consignments, always ask for a signature and ID proof from the receiver or the customer. It will help prevent you from chargeback scams.

Chargeback scams are dishonest actions; when someone makes a purchase from your store and then later contacts their card provider for a refund of the deducted amount quoting them,” the item was not received, and the amount was successfully deducted.” And as a result of the chargeback scam, you face a loss.

7. Be careful of opening Emails

Always be precautious of opening links received through emails. Before opening an embedded link in an email, always verify the sender’s authenticity as it may redirect you to another website, which masquerades the trustworthy one. And you may end up losing your personal details, which can be later used for unauthorized account access and financial transactions.

8. Keep your systems and software up to date

Always say yes to all system and software updates without a second thought whenever they are released by your security or system provider as they come ready with updated security patches and security definitions that can better identify and defend against suspicious activities.

9. Maintain a strong and unique password

A password is the main key to access your systems, databases, and accounts. Top security advisors suggest using new security measures and techniques, which allows you to access your account only after entering a new unique and strong password every time, which can be a combination of numbers, symbols, alphabets, or even visual images with voice recognition and biometric verification.

10. Store only necessary and mandatorily required data

It is advised to store only necessary and mandatorily needed data. In case your systems are hacked, and the data of the customers have been stolen. It can make you lose the trust of your customers, and it can affect your business in numerous ways. Consequently, it can ruin your business or damage your reputation, and you may end up going down in numbers. So be wise while maintaining your customer database because the thing you don’t have can’t be stolen.

11. Maintain a backup of data

It is always best to maintain a data backup, regardless of the size and scale of your eCommerce store. Because sometimes, cyber scams and attacks are capable enough to damage your systems, software, and databases. In case this happens with you, and you don’t have a backup of your user database. Then you may end up losing your customers, and for getting them back to your eCommerce store, you must start again from a new end. It will consume a lot of time and money. And you will end up being left behind by your competitors.

Conclusion

eCommerce scams being an unfortunate part of eCommerce business modules, it seems to be an unending part. With the continuous evolution of technology, we can knock it out. But contrarily, hackers, attackers, and scammers are always developing new tactics and tricks to victimize the eCommerce stores and their customers. We can avert this by being vigilant to suspicious activities and keeping up with the latest security trends.