It is critical that the payment gateways you choose supports basic fraud detection and that all required authentication measures are in place

1. The Financial Express November 6, 2011 4
S P O T L I G H T
Preventing
online frauds As Indian e-commerce volume grows bigger by the day, so do security threats
AshokKumar tity authentication services, such
as Verified by Visa, through the
W
ITH MORE than card issuers. It is getting safer to
3,311hubsspread shop with a credit card as leading
all over the coun- banks are adding extra layers of se-
try, India is fast curity by OTP or pin verification.
emerging as a “Suchserviceswillletthecustomer
leading e-commerce marketplace use a personal password with their
globally, says a recent report by cards, giving them the security to
eBay, a popular e-commerce hub. shop online,” says Sundeep Malho-
An earlier estimate by online re- tra,CEOandfounderHomeShop18,
tailer HomeShop18 pegged the ane-commercecompany .
industry at $9.3 billion. Customers should also acquaint
However, the industry is faced themselves with the benefits of us-
withthechallengeof ensuringcon- ing a secure payment gateway This.
sumer confidence in keeping their ensures safety and security of the
identities and information secure. transaction to the highest degree
Some of the common e-commerce andisasmartoption.“Itisalwaysa
securitythreatsloominglargeover good idea to get in touch with the
the industry include identity theft, customer support team before
data security breaches and phish- making a purchase for the first
ing, which predominantly figure time from any website, as this call
onthelistof consumercomplaints. sensitises the user to the finer
As the biggest casualty of the points and nuances of the transac-
emerging risk factors is the trust of tion,” says Ishita Swarup, CEO &
the consumer in digital commerce, co-ounder, 99labels.com, an online
it becomes imperative for any busi- shoppingplatform.
ness to take necessary steps to Third party approval endorse-
reduce customer concerns about SHYAM KUMAR ments give credibility to websites
shoppingandbankingonline. an https at the beginning (s for ‘se- forpurchases,”warnsDixit. Online consumers should al- whenitcomestosecurity-relatedas-
The users are advised to access IT IS CRITICAL THAT THE curity’) and there should be a small Various new e-commerce plat- ways choose a mode of payment pects of online shopping, says
their online accounts from their PAYMENT GATEWAY YOU gold lock in the lower right corner forms are mushrooming in India, that makes it easy for one to track Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Crazeal.com,
own computers and also ensure CHOOSE SUPPORTS of thebrowser.” but not every site pays adequate all online transactions through a the Indian unit of Groupon, USA.
thattheyhavedifferentusernames It is also significant for the con- attention to user information se- regular statement. Kunal Bahl, co- “Downloadingthelatestversion
and passwords for different ac-
BASIC FRAUD DETECTION sumer to understand the actual curity, both financial and other- founder & CEO, Snapdeal.com, an of your web browser is an essential
counts, as the probable attacker AND THAT ALL REQUIRED cost of the item, including ship- wise. Given that a lot of these are e-commerce firm, warns against step consumers must take as these
can use the same credentials to ac- AUTHENTICATION ping, handling, and sales tax as start-ups, there is an additional visiting sites that don’t offer an have built-in filters than can spot
cessanyaccount. MEASURES ARE IN PLACE these factors can have an enor- responsibility on the sites to in- easyreturnandrefundpolicy . many fake websites,” says Mohit
But this is only the basic precau- mous impact on the final price. still trust in the consumer’s mind, DhruvGupta,CEO,www.gkbop- Anand, managing director, Indian
tion. While most organisations be- “Many merchants offer free ship- who are warming up to the e-com- tical.com,aleadingonlineeyewear sub-continent, Belkin India, a con-
lieve that simple usernames and cure lock) at the bottom of the ping during holidays and those merce platform. stores, adds, “Payment gateways nectivitysolutionsfirm.
passwords no longer provide ade- page. Usually a shoddy looking, who have both online and physical “There are enough measures in are getting more secure as banks It is also a good security practice
quate protection against sophisti- badly designed website should be stores will let you pick up the item place like encryption and SSL certi- are doing 3-d verification to ensure to never discard readable electron-
catedattacks,atthesametime,they avoided, cautions, Faisal Fa- from the store for free. In most fication that every e-commerce site thatyourpaymentsaresafe.” ic receipts or email confirmations
feelhandicappedbecauseacompli- rooqui, founder, Mouthshut.com, states if you do business with a should embrace to provide a safe The new challenge, in online for your online purchases, as this
cated technical transaction a user generated company. merchant who has a physical pres- shoppingexperience.Else,afewbad shopping, lies in identifying the could leak valuable data for poten-
process may hurt adoption and us- Govind Rammurthy, managing ence there, he is required to collect experiences might actually create a so-called alluring deals that offer tialmisuse.
age. Intelligent authentication director of eScan, a security solu- state sales taxes. Although it’s mental block in the consumer’s huge discounts on products. Some Arindam Bose, MD & chief cus-
takes a risk-based approach that tion firm, feels securing the com- tough to enforce, some states ex- mind about Indian e-commerce of these deals offer products of in- tomer officer, timtara.com, an e-
enables strong authentication that puter, clicking with care and pectyoutoself-reportallof youron- sites,” says Ranjith Boyanapalli, ferior quality from suppliers, commerce portal, says, “At the
is both effective and unobtrusive knowingthemerchantarethethree line purchases and pay sales taxes chief executive officer, Buythep- which lack credibility, creating same time, we should not worry ex-
fortheenduser. most important steps one should when you file your state income tax rice.com,ashoppingportal. confusionamongthepotentialcon- cessively about the security aspect
A few basic guidelines can go a followwhileshoppingonline. return,”Dataexplains. Many online shopping services sumers about fake and genuine of shopping online. It prevents a
long way in making the experience ‘Bad’ guys these days operate “Since online shopping is con- do not guarantee refund in case the products. “Reputation and pedi- customer from taking advantage of
of online shopping a fruitful exer- by planting a keylogger on your stantly evolving, in emerging mar- goods are not delivered. “A proper gree of an online shopping portal attractivedeals.”
cise. One of the most important de- system that listens in, surrepti- kets like India, shoppers need to be system for addressing customer are critical for any shopper to have Inanycase,whetherit’sonlineor
cisions a customer is required to tiously waiting for you to use your aware of different techniques used grievance like an exclusive cus- a happy buying experience,” says offline shopping, basics are the
takeduringonlinetransactionisto credit card or your bank password by merchants to use the web as an tomercarenumbercanbehelpful,” K Senthilnathan, head, straight- same. You must compare prices and
choosethepaymentgateway . so that they can steal your money. interactive platform to sell their saysAjitChauhan,director,Syner- line.in,ane-retailplatform. gather as much information as pos-
It is critical that the payment So, even if you’re dealing with a le- products.Giventhefactthatalmost gy Promotions & Marketing ser- To enhance online shopping se- sible about the product, before-
gateway you choose supports basic gitimate merchant, you’re at risk about 15% of credit card frauds are vices, SynergyCoupons.com, an curity, credit card companies are hand, religiously The advantage
.
fraud detection and that all re- if your computer is infected. “A online, we must be cautious when e-commerceportal. now establishing cardholder iden- with online shopping is that heaps
quired authentication measures major precaution is not to click on sharing personal information like Social shopping is the new thing arewrittenaboutproductsaspartof
are in place. Most frequently credit
, any links—even if the message credit card details over the inter- but it has risks. One should not THE NEW CHALLENGE, IN reviews and ratings. If you wish to
card fraud is carried out by individ- looks legitimate—but to type in net,” cautions Anand Dixit, execu- share too many details about per- dive deep, you can easily go through
uals, who have access to only credit the merchant’s URL manually,” tivedirector,PwC. sonal buying habits online and cer-
ONLINE SHOPPING, LIES it in detail and also check user re-
card numbers and not the physical cautions Ramamurthy. There have been cases where one tainly avoid pushing credit card IN IDENTIFYING THE views in order to gain an in-depth
cards. “Two factor authentication According to Ajay Data, founder typically notices situations of so details even to known people be- SO-CALLED ALLURING knowledgeabouttheproduct.
checks via a one-time password are of Xgen Plus, advance email called ‘baiting’ on different web- cause the information can be ac- DEALS THAT OFFER “Should you find yourself a vic-
useful,”saysSuhasPrakashkumar, servers give special importance to sites where a small number of prod- cessed by others. One should HUGE DISCOUNTS ON tim of fraudulent activities, do not
director, development, Symantec, a emailsecurityandlayemphasison ucts are available at a discounted always shop at online sites that find be embarrassed to act. Frauds
securitysolutionsfirm. the awareness of consumers about price. These are used as carrots to have been around for years. “Avoid
PRODUCTS. SOME OF do happen on an e-commerce plat-
If the site is not professional in the real price of the product. “The temptinnewshoppersandoftenfea- visiting just-launched sites so that THESE PRODUCTS ARE form and it’s advisable to make as
appearance and operation, it may security of email is crucial. When ture on the same page as full price you are confident of getting served OF INFERIOR QUALITY, much noise as possible,” says
not be safe. The user should enter you’re about to enter your credit merchandise. “In these cases, once well,” cautions K Vaitheeswaran, WHICH LACK Sachin Singhal, head of e-com-
the payment information on a card details, make sure you’re on a we are drawn in to the websites, we founder & CEO of Indiaplaza.com, CREDIBILITY merce, Naaptol.com, a compari-
page that contains a padlock (se- ‘secure’ site. The URL should have are more likely to open our wallets ane-commercewebsite. son-based social shopping portal.
THE URL SHOULD CARDHOLDER THE USER SHOULD WE SHOULD NOT REPUTATION
HAVE AN HTTPS IDENTITY ENTER THE WORRY AND PEDIGREE
AT THE BEGINNING (S FOR AUTHENTICATION PAYMENT INFORMATION EXCESSIVELY ABOUT THE OF AN ONLINE
‘SECURITY’) AND THERE SERVICES WILL ALLOW ON A PAGE THAT SECURITY ASPECT OF SHOPPING PORTAL
SHOULD BE A SMALL THE CUSTOMER TO USE A CONTAINS A PADLOCK AT SHOPPING ONLINE. IT ARE CRITICAL FOR ANY
GOLD LOCK IN THE PASSWORD, GIVING HIM THE BOTTOM. A BADLY PREVENTS ONE FROM SHOPPER TO HAVE A
LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE SECURITY TO SHOP DESIGNED WEBSITE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HAPPY BUYING
THE BROWSER ONLINE SHOULD BE AVOIDED ATTRACTIVE DEALS EXPERIENCE
Ajay Data Sundeep Malhotra Faisal Farooqui Arindam Bose K Senthilnathan
Owner, X-Gen Plus CEO, HomeShop18 Founder, Mouthshut.com MD, Timtara Head, straightline.in