Fraud-Proof Your Online Business

Online fraud is a HUGE problem. 

It's so big that the FBI estimates that $7.2 billion in online transactions last year were fraudulent, not counting credit card fraud. In fact, we're told that this figure could actually be as high as $37 billion, due to unreported cases of online fraud and the fact that many businesses don't even bother to report their losses for fear of being blacklisted by credit card processors or other institutions.

But just because there are so many cases of fraud, that doesn't mean you have to put up with it.

In this post, we'll share our 5 most effective strategies to fraud-proof your online business and give you some free tools to help do just that!

#1 - Pay Attention To The Payment Method Used By Your Customer And Use A Third-Party Fraud Prevention Service For Credit Card Transactions

There are different types of fraud out there, but for the most part they fall into two main categories: credit card fraud and identity theft. Learn about each one so you can be on the lookout for them.

#2 - Use A Secure Payment Provider And A Secure Shopping Cart

If you use a shopping cart that can be easily hacked, your customers could have a very difficult time accessing the product they ordered. Furthermore, if the hacking was successful, you could put yourself and your business at risk of credit card fraud. So use one that takes extra steps to protect your online store from hackers.

#3 - Monitor Your Online Sales Stats And Report Any Fluctuations To The Feds For Fraudulent Activity Reports

This is a no-brainer, but it needs to be done nonetheless. If you don't know of any fraudulent activity reports that have been filed against your store, it's a good idea to report these as soon as you find out about them.

#4 - Use A Third-Party Web Service To Verify Your Customer's Email Address

Email addresses can be easily forged, so make sure you verify them before displaying them to your customers. Utilize a third-party web service to check for phishing attempts and invalid email addresses, which can put your business at risk of becoming a victim of email spam fraud.

#5 - Require Your Customers To Log In To Your Website Or To Access Certain Pages, Such As The Order Status Page

You can use an easy-to-use social login solution to make this process as smooth and painless as possible for your customers. This is also a great way to avoid any type of fraudulent activity on your website, such as creating multiple accounts or ordering under more than one name. This is a method that's used quite frequently by hackers, and you can easily avoid it by requiring your customers to log in. And remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It's a good idea to have an "order status" page that they can access via a link on your website.

Bottom line, fraud is a huge problem in our online world. And the sad truth is that consumers are paying for it with their money and their identities.

But you can do your part to protect both yourself and your customers from this growing epidemic by taking these 5 basic steps to prevent it from happening to you. Once you implement these simple strategies, you'll no longer be at risk of becoming a victim of online fraud, and neither will your customers... or know anyone who is.

As always, we want to hear from you!  What do YOU think? Leave us your comments below...

#Author: http://www.fraud-proofyouronlinebusiness.com 

#Title: Fraud-Proof Your Online Business [ARTICLE START]

Online fraud is a HUGE problem. 

It's so big that the FBI estimates that $7.2 billion in online transactions last year were fraudulent, not counting credit card fraud. In fact, we're told that this figure could actually be as high as $37 billion, due to unreported cases of online fraud and the fact that many businesses don't even bother to report their losses for fear of being blacklisted by credit card processors or other institutions. But just because there are so many cases of fraud, that doesn't mean you have to put up with it. In this post, we'll share our 5 most effective strategies to fraud-proof your online business and give you some free tools to help do just that! #1 - Pay Attention To The Payment Method Used By Your Customer And Use A Third-Party Fraud Prevention Service For Credit Card Transactions There are different types of fraud out there, but for the most part they fall into two main categories: credit card fraud and identity theft. Learn about each one so you can be on the lookout for them. #2 - Use A Secure Payment Provider And A Secure Shopping Cart If you use a shopping cart that can be easily hacked, your customers could have a very difficult time accessing the product they ordered. Furthermore, if the hacking was successful, you could put yourself and your business at risk of credit card fraud. So use one that takes extra steps to protect your online store from hackers. #3 - Monitor Your Online Sales Stats And Report Any Fluctuations To The Feds For Fraudulent Activity Reports This is a no-brainer, but it needs to be done nonetheless. If you don't know of any fraudulent activity reports that have been filed against your store, it's a good idea to report these as soon as you find out about them. #4 - Use A Third-Party Web Service To Verify Your Customer's Email Address Email addresses can be easily forged, so make sure you verify them before displaying them to your customers. Utilize a third-party web service to check for phishing attempts and invalid email addresses, which can put your business at risk of becoming a victim of email spam fraud. #5 - Require Your Customers To Log In To Your Website Or To Access Certain Pages, Such As The Order Status Page You can use an easy-to-use social login solution to make this process as smooth and painless as possible for your customers. This is also a great way to avoid any type of fraudulent activity on your website, such as creating multiple accounts or ordering under more than one name. This is a method that's used quite frequently by hackers, and you can easily avoid it by requiring your customers to log in. And remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It's a good idea to have an "order status" page that they can access via a link on your website. Bottom line, fraud is a huge problem in our online world. And the sad truth is that consumers are paying for it with their money and their identities. But you can do your part to protect both yourself and your customers from this growing epidemic by taking these 5 basic steps to prevent it from happening to you. Once you implement these simple strategies, you'll no longer be at risk of becoming a victim of online fraud, and neither will your customers... or know anyone who is.

Conclusion

So, do you think that this article was useful?

Of course it was. It's the best one I've ever read on the topic. I think everyone should read it. On the other hand, I just said that it was too short for our deep-thinking readers. So let's get to the point here. What are you supposed to do right now? You're not supposed to waste another second on this article until you've finished reading this one. We've got some great tips in here that can really make a difference in your life... as well as the lives of your family and friends who you share our blog post with or link to from your website or social media profile...