Recognizing Fake Orders
Red Flags
- Billing and shipping addresses in different countries
- Express shipping on first order
- Email address looks generated
- Multiple failed payment attempts
- VPN or proxy detected
- High-fraud country origin
Pattern Recognition
Fraud often shows patterns:
- Similar order structures
- Geographic clustering
- Time-of-day patterns
- Product preferences
Types of Fake Orders
Card Testing
Small orders to verify stolen cards work.
Triangle Fraud
Fraudster takes order, buys from you with stolen card, ships to victim.
Friendly Fraud
Real customers who claim fraud after receiving goods.
Reseller Fraud
Stolen cards used to buy for resale.
Prevention Strategies
Block High-Risk Sources
- Geographic restrictions
- VPN blocking
- Data center blocking
Order Review
Flag orders for manual review:
- Above certain value
- From new customers
- With shipping/billing mismatch
Payment Verification
- Require CVV
- Use AVS (Address Verification)
- Enable 3D Secure
With SecurEcommerce
- Block high-fraud countries you don’t serve
- Enable VPN detection to flag anonymous orders
- Monitor patterns in blocked traffic
- Adjust rules based on results
What to Do With Suspicious Orders
Don’t Ship
If fraud indicators are strong, don’t ship. A cancelled order is better than a chargeback.
Verify First
Contact customer to verify:
- Phone call to confirm
- Additional verification
- Address confirmation
Document Everything
For chargeback disputes:
- Keep communication records
- Screenshot fraud indicators
- Document verification attempts