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Prevent fraud on ShopBase

A transaction that is not authorized by a customer is referred to as fraudulent. A fraudulent transaction can result in a chargeback, which can cause business owner to lose money. ShopBase's built-in fraud analysis uses machine learning algorithms to help bring suspicious orders to your attention. In addition, you can also actively investigate a suspicious order in several ways.

In this article



A. Verify the IP address
B. Call the phone number on the order
C. Search for the email address
D. Verify that the billing and shipping addresses match
E. Check if multiple orders use different billing addresses for the same shipping address
F. Review high-value orders

A. Verify the IP address



The IP address from which an order was placed is a good indicator of potential fraud.

Is the customer's IP address located in a different general area from where they claim to be?
Is the IP address for a web hosting company?
Is the IP address a proxy service IP address?

If you've answered yes to any of the questions, then you should probably contact the customer to verify the authenticity of the order.

You can use the following free tools to quickly lookup the geographical location, ISP, and other information about a specific IP address:

WhatIsMyIP - IP Address Lookup
IP2Location
infoSNIPER

You can find the IP address that is associated with the order in the fraud analysis section of the order detail page by following the instructions in this article.

B. Call the phone number on the order



Calling the customer is always a good idea. You can also use a service such as 411.com to make sure the phone number is located in the same area code as the billing address. Fraudulent customers often use invalid phone numbers. If someone answers the phone, then ask them some simple questions about their order and see how they respond. Do they know the address, phone number, email address, and name they used? Is it difficult for them to provide you with basic information? These factors will assist you in avoiding potentially fraudulent orders.

C. Search for the email address



Searching for the email address on Google or other search engines can show if the email address was used in documented fraud attempts. You might also be able to find social media posts or other information that ties the customer to the email address.

D. Verify that the billing and shipping addresses match



A fraudster is likely going to provide a shipping address that does not match the billing address. You can use Google Maps to map out addresses and visualize the distance between them. If the distance between two addresses is significant (different continents, for example), then the order might be fraudulent. Keep in mind that legitimate shoppers sending a gift or buying on behalf of someone else might have different addresses.

E. Check if multiple orders use different billing addresses for the same shipping address



Are there multiple orders with different billing addresses located in different states, with different names, but sharing the same shipping destination? This is usually a sign of fraudulent orders. Proceed carefully, and contact the customers using the information provided at checkout.

F. Review high-value orders



If you receive an order which is substantially higher in value than normal, then you definitely should verify the customer's identity.

You can enable manual order payment capture if you don't want payments showing signs of fraud to be automatically captured.



Understand fraud analysis indicators
View an order
View an order’s Timeline
Contact a customer about an order
View the order status page of an order
Cancel an order
Refund an order

Updated on: 31/08/2022

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