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As the internet has grown in popularity, so has online shopping and online stores. However, that has also led to the growth of eCommerce fraud schemes and other problems. Whether you own a small online store or you sell on a huge marketplace, you should know how to protect yourself. You don’t have to have a ton of financial or security experience, but you should be aware of potential issues so that you can resolve them.
1. Maintain Your Site
Check your website or marketplace account every day, especially if you get a lot of orders. You don’t want to let a fraudulent order get through and sit there for days. Even if you don’t get many orders, you should still check your site regularly. Then, you can perform any available updates, which can patch existing security issues.
2. Choose Payment Methods Wisely
Before you accept just any payment method, consider the potential risks. When doing business online, consider taking credit or debit cards or using a service like PayPal. While checks are a popular method, they take time to send, and so they can be fraudulent. If you decide you need to take checks, consider using a program like Ethoca chargeback protection in case you get a fraudulent check online.
3. Price Items Carefully
Whether you sell luxury items or novelty trinkets, consider how you want to price them. Of course, you don’t want to undercharge for your products, but you also don’t want to overcharge. Some fraudsters may look for good deals or other ways to scam online shop owners. If you price items correctly, you might be able to ward off potential scammers. Now, you don’t want to scare off good customers either, so it may take some experimenting to find the right prices.
4. Verify the Address
Before you ship an order, verify that the shipping address is valid. Of course, a package won’t ship to a non-existent address, but you should check. While not always an issue, some P.O. Boxes might be associated with scams so that you can’t trace the scammer to a real address. If you sell digital downloads, you should verify the email address and make sure that the customer isn’t performing a phishing scam on you.
Selling products and services online can be a great way to build a business. However, there are a lot of opportunities for people to scam you online. If you can keep up with your site and choose the right price and payment options, you can make it that much harder for scammers.
Infographic created by Fiserv, a connected commerce company
