How to Avoid Fake Orders on Your eCommerce Website

Fresh orders are the delight of every seller. They are what you practically work for and a new order definitely gives your store the hope it needs. But what if you encounter fake orders? They can have a lot of implications for your store. Let’s find out how you can combat them.

A fake order on an eCommerce portal is an order that has been placed with the intention of defrauding the seller. A lot of these fake orders are done out of sheer mischief or with the intention to prank a company.

You must be wondering, why in the world someone would place a fake order? Well, unfortunately for eCommerce owners, there are a lot of fake buyers online. Why they do such things is a mystery to us, but we don’t need to think about that. Our primary focus should be on how we can save ourselves from such criminal activities and avoid fake orders.

Most of the customers in India prefer Cash on Delivery as a payment mode. They find it much more trustworthy than paying online. This is the reason that many notorious criminals place fake orders. Even if your customer is offering you a valid billing address, even then there are high chances of fraudulent orders. That is why you need to be on top of a few precautions before accepting any order. Here are a few of them:

Contact Through Email

Verify your customer’s email ID. Most fraudulent customers use fake e-mail IDs to place an order. If you mail them and they do not reply, means it is a fake order. There are a number of tools available online that can help you verify email IDs. In order to stay completely secure, you can download software that automatically inspects and verifies the e-mail IDs of all the orders. You can also send verification links to their ID.

Call Them For Security Purpose

You can call your customer to double-check the information they have provided about themselves. If the number is unavailable or the customer seems hesitant to comply with you, it means there is something fishy. This can also backfire on you, so be very careful and courteous while talking to your customers. Be polite and if they respond negatively, say Thank You and hang up instead of pestering them for more information.

Confirm Once Before Shipping The Order

It is always better to get in touch with your customer via phone or email and confirm once if they want the order to be delivered. This way you are sure if the order has to be shipped or not. In case they do not reply you should immediately cancel the order.

Install A Security Software

A Software ensures a good level of security for your business. It enables you to impose several layers of security and ensure that your customer is authentic and has the right intent. Once your customers clear all security steps, it is safe for you to interact with them and ship their order. You can find a lot of software online or you can buy one from a digital store.

The issue of hoax orders is not only because of Cash on Delivery orders but also on prepaid orders. Here are few ways to counter against fake orders online using a credit or a debit card:

Verify the CVV code

There is a 3 digit code on the back of the debit card and it is a safety measure to prevent cases of electronic credit card theft. If the numbers do not match then it is most likely a case of fraud, so the eCommerce portal shouldn’t accept such an order.

Verify the Address via an AVS system

Many people ship the product to a set number of addresses such as their office or their personal home and those addresses are recorded in your account that you have set up with the portal. This system shouldn’t be viewed strictly as it’s results could be false positive too. So, this system should be used as a guideline.

Maximum customers in India prefer Cash On Delivery which makes it very hard for sellers to distinguish between fake and real orders. Although the above steps are helpful in avoiding fake orders, you have to pay special attention while taking down orders. This will obviously happen by taking strong security measures.