Overview
As an entrepreneur, educating yourself on fraud, its common patterns, popular attack routes and ultimately, your liability is incredibly important. Fraud can affect everything from your carefully-crafted reputation to your bottom line. Unfortunately, global online payment fraud is a serious and growing concern. In 2021, ecommerce losses to online payment fraud worldwide increased by 2.5 billion USD to a total of 20 billion USD.
As an ecommerce leader, ClickBank does not take this threat lightly. As we have continued to open our services globally, we have also vigilantly monitored where the safest places to do so are. What exactly are we looking for though?
The Different Shades of Online Fraud
At its simplest definition fraud is any wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. If you own or operate an online business, there are certain kinds of fraud you become more susceptible to. From spamming techniques and illegal transactions to merchant fraud and phishing, the internet is ripe with opportunities for you to be the victim of fraudulent activity.
ClickBank’s Promise to You
Here at ClickBank, you can breathe easy as we employ powerful fraud protection software and a highly skilled Fraud & Risk Team to secure you against any fraudulent activity, big or small. ? This service comes to you completely free as a ClickBank client.
An Investment in Knowledge
Part of our commitment to empowering entrepreneurs just like you is not only providing the peace-of-mind which comes with our comprehensive protection, but also giving you the tools, the resources, and the education to better grasp the issues directly impacting your online business. Below, you will find a brief overview on some of the most prevalent varieties of fraud in the e-commerce world.
Affiliate Fraud
“Any type of illegal activity designed with the intention of cheating merchants, other affiliates or buyers. Fraudulent affiliates mislead merchants into paying commissions they shouldn’t be paying.”
Affiliate fraud can manifest in several ways:
- Spamming (i.e. bulk email sends to customers with the hopes of more emails will make more income)
- Fake Clicks or Referrals (i.e. using scripts or software which imitates the actions of typical human behavior online)
- Mimicking Content (i.e. cloning the style and content of a site in order mislead and misdirect prospects to a wrong site where a conversion will take place)
Friendly Fraud
“Friendly fraud occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card and then requests a chargeback form the issuing bank after receiving the purchased goods or services.”
As more counts of friendly fraud surface, banks are treating them more cautiously, requiring consumers to bring a bit more to the table when requesting a chargeback. ClickBank has a number of industry best-practices in place which help reduce the likelihood friendly fraud or a chargeback will occur.
- Every ClickBank product must honor our 60-day, no questions asked refund policy
- Fully-staffed, on-site call center operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, giving your customers answers right form the source
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Proprietary fraud prevention software which carefully looks at every transaction on the ClickBank platform and assess the likelihood of fraudulent activity occurring as a result.
Other Varieties of Fraud
Outside of the above, fraud comes in several other shapes and sizes. Below are a few other examples of fraud affecting e-commerce businesses.
- Clean Fraud
Clean fraud comes from a purchase made on a stolen credit card but, the transaction is manipulated in such a way fraud detection functions are avoided. - Card Testing
Card testing is using a stolen credit card to make small test purchases to see if the credit card is functional. - Merchant Fraud
When a product or a service is offered at a cheap price but then never shipped and the payment is kept.
Partnered with ClickBank, you can rest assured every transaction which comes through the ClickBank platform is carefully analyzed by our protection services as well as a team of highly-trained individuals.
Additional Resources & Related Articles
- PwC's Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey
- KNOWLEDGE BASE: How does ClickBank protect me against criminal fraud?
- KNOWLEDGE BASE: How does ClickBank handle fraudulent claims?
- BLOG: Fraud in the Affiliate Marketing Industry
