Understanding VPN Traffic
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) route internet traffic through servers in different locations, masking the user’s real IP address and location. While VPNs have legitimate privacy uses, they’re also commonly used for:
- Bypassing geo-restrictions on pricing or availability
- Committing payment fraud while hiding identity
- Scraping store data without detection
- Conducting competitive intelligence anonymously
- Making multiple fraudulent purchases under different identities
The Business Impact of VPN Abuse
Geo-Pricing Arbitrage
If you offer different prices by region (common for international stores), VPN users can access lower-priced markets and exploit the difference. A customer in Europe might use a VPN to appear in Southeast Asia and get significantly lower prices.
Promotional Abuse
Limited offers like “one per customer” become meaningless when users can change their apparent location and identity with each VPN connection.
Fraud Risk Increase
Payment fraud is significantly higher from VPN connections. Fraudsters use VPNs to:
- Hide their real location from fraud detection
- Appear to be in the same country as the stolen payment method
- Make multiple purchases before detection
Analytics Corruption
Your location-based analytics become unreliable when significant traffic uses VPNs. Marketing decisions based on “where customers are located” become flawed.
Compliance Issues
Some products have legal restrictions by region. VPN users can appear to be in permitted locations while actually being somewhere your products can’t legally ship.
Warning Signs of VPN Abuse
- Unusual order patterns - Multiple orders from same payment method but different “locations”
- Higher than normal fraud rates - Chargebacks from orders that seemed legitimate
- Promotional code abuse - Same codes used repeatedly by apparently different users
- Shipping mismatches - Order locations don’t match shipping destinations
- Analytics anomalies - Traffic patterns that don’t match your marketing
When Should You Block VPNs?
Consider Blocking If:
- You offer geo-specific pricing
- You run region-limited promotions
- You’ve experienced significant VPN-related fraud
- Compliance requires knowing customer location
- Your margins can’t absorb promotional abuse
Consider Allowing If:
- Privacy-conscious customers are your target market
- You sell in regions where VPNs are common for safety
- You have no geo-specific restrictions
- Your fraud prevention handles VPN traffic well
How SecurEcommerce Detects VPNs
ProxyCheck.io Integration
We use ProxyCheck.io’s comprehensive database to identify:
- Commercial VPN services (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc.)
- Corporate VPN endpoints
- Data center IPs commonly used by VPNs
- Emerging VPN providers
Provider Identification
When we detect a VPN, we identify which service is being used, helping you understand the traffic pattern.
Performance Optimization
Detection results are cached for 24 hours using Redis, ensuring fast page loads while maintaining protection.
Fail-Open Design
If our detection service is temporarily unavailable, traffic is allowed through rather than blocking legitimate customers. Security shouldn’t break your store.
Blocking Options
With SecurEcommerce, you can:
- Block all VPN traffic - Complete restriction
- Show a warning message - Ask users to disable VPN
- Allow but flag - Let orders through but mark for review
- Block specific providers - Target problem VPN services
Customizable Block Messages
When blocking VPN users, you can display a custom message explaining:
- Why VPN access is restricted
- How to contact support if they have concerns
- Alternative ways to access your store
This transparency helps legitimate customers understand the restriction while deterring bad actors.
Balancing Security and Access
VPN blocking is a trade-off. You’ll prevent some fraud but may also block some legitimate privacy-conscious customers. SecurEcommerce gives you the data to make informed decisions:
- See what percentage of your traffic uses VPNs
- Identify which VPN providers are most common
- Track fraud rates from VPN vs non-VPN traffic
- Adjust your policy based on real data