Financial cyber crime is becoming more common as fraudsters begin to adapt increasingly sophisticated techniques. As the criminals become ever more daring, it is up to technology software companies to remain one step ahead. Business owners and customers also need to be extra vigilant and tech savvy to avoid becoming victims of online fraud. While the internet is for the most part a safe and secure way to purchase goods there will always be opportunists ready to pounce. Knowing how they work and how to avoid them is key.
Scammers will try anything it seems to try and rip off you and your eCommerce business. Some of the most common examples include supplying someone else’s credit card details and claiming refunds on allegedly incomplete deliveries.
Card fraud
Card fraud is the most common type of online fraud – the customer should take responsibility for themselves by setting up a secure password. If, however, they have left that password in an unsecure location, a business can help by monitoring sales for any suspicious activity. There are advanced fraud tools available to help with this.
<Third party interception
This is where a fraudster eavesdrops on your conversation with a customer and records their credit card details. The best way to combat this is to use an SSL certificate such as a secure socket layer which will help to eliminate most if not all attacks.
Hacking
This is where you are likely to find the more sophisticated fraudster as it involves gaining access to the control tools of your website. This can also be very lucrative for a fraudster and very damaging to your business as it would bring with it much unwelcome publicity.
One way of minimizing the damage is to allow your payment provider to host your payments page on their server. On your part you need to make sure your site is secure – regularly change your passwords and make sure that you keep your security patch up to date.
Malicious code
This is a process whereby criminals use malware including ‘spyware’ which captures data as the user enters it and ‘backdoor’ which gives the hacker access to your computer from a remote location.
To counter these attacks you need to use good anti-virus software and run regular scans.