Thanks to Internet services and websites, people pay bills, shop, make online reservations and even work easily. However, all these things are very often accompanied by fraud. Small and major data breach are so common in our digital world. The identities of millions of Americans appear in the hands of the wrong people from time to time.
Online Fraud and Data Breaches
A report from Javelin Strategy & Research shows that nearly 15.4 million consumers became victims of identity theft or fraud in 2016, which is up 16% from 2015. This has been the highest number registered since the firm began tracking fraudulent cases in 2004.
Equifax, the oldest of the 3 major US credit bureaus, has recently been attacked. Equifax security breach leaked personal information of 143 million US consumers. They weren’t the only ones impacted. The personal information of about 700.000 UK residents was also stolen, including phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, email addresses, usernames, passwords, and partial credit card details. The company is now being investigated by US and UK authorities.
Here are a number of online scams to be aware of:
- Delivery scams
- Facebook impersonation scam (hijacked profile scam)
- Fake antivirus software
- Fake news scam
- Greeting card scams
- Guaranteed bank loan or credit card scam
- Hitman scam
- Job offer scams
- Lottery scam
- Make money fast scams (Economic scams)
- Nigerian scam
- Phishing email scams
- Romance scams
- SMS Scams (Smishing)
- Stock market scams
- Travel scams
How to prevent Fraudulent Signups?
Knowing how to prevent fraudulent signups is critical to businesses. Building trust is of special importance to banks and other financial institutions since financial fraud can make customers easily lose confidence in their services and turn to competitors.
Merchants running an online business should find a secure and reliable payment processor to apply for credit card processing. With emerchantbroker.com, you can enjoy unmatched security for payment processing, and chargeback protection. EMB is voted the nation’s #1 high risk merchant account provider that serves both traditional and high risk businesses. Moreover, EMB has an A+ rating with the BBB and A rating with Card Payment Options, and is among Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2016.
To help your business stay away from fraud, follow these tips:
- Fraudsters often use foreign IP and physical addresses. If you offer services/products internationally, or you’re expanding into that market, have dedicated resources to fight fraud.
- Amateur fraudsters or bots may use a dedicated server. Enable IP Logging when taking online signups. Block the IP if you’re getting an unusual number of signups from it without any reason.
- Spammers very often use some email “hosts” that provide disposable email accounts to use for service signups. If you find a suspicious email address, flag the account and investigate the host.
- Use a method of identity verification for every signup. Mobile phone verification is the top secure method available. Consider also email verification.
- If you find an account odd, flag the account for further research. Thought it’s not convenient for customers to go through additional security steps, they’ll appreciate your efforts.
Cyber criminals have been attacking the online businesses and individuals since the Internet networks first appeared and became widespread around the globe. Take the right security measures to stay away from fraud as much as possible.