It is projected that a startling 70% of online transactions will occur through mobile devices by 2025, making it more important than ever to safeguard your company against the growing threat of mobile commerce (mCommerce) fraud.

Knowing the ins and outs of mCommerce fraud as an entrepreneur or business owner is the first step to protecting your company and guaranteeing the security of your clients.

Let’s examine the many forms of mCommerce fraud and arm ourselves with ten practical strategies to protect companies.

Deciphering mCommerce scams

To put it simply, mCommerce fraud is the term for a variety of dishonest practices that take advantage of the ease of use that mobile devices provide for both customers and businesses on mobile platforms. Unauthorized transactions, identity theft, phishing schemes, phony mobile applications, and fraudulent payment gateways are some examples of these activities.

As mCommerce keeps growing in popularity, scammers are coming up with creative ways to take advantage of holes in the market.

Knowing the mechanisms behind mCommerce fraud

Understanding the common schemes and tactics used by fraudsters is essential to understanding the complexities of mCommerce fraud. These tactics and schemes include:

Account takeover: When fraudsters manage to get their hands on a user’s account—typically through mobile device hacking—they proceed to make transactions without the user’s awareness. Malicious software or lax security procedures are typically to blame for this.

Phishing scams: Through messages posing as reliable organizations, con artists deceive victims into divulging sensitive personal and financial data. These messages, which are frequently urgent in nature, can be sent to users through fraudulent websites via SMS or other messaging apps.

Mobile scammers: use phony apps that look like real businesses to trick people into downloading them. These applications compromise user data by installing malicious spyware.

Phishing payment gateways: When fraudulent payment gateways are integrated into mobile apps, users are tricked into giving scammers their payment information directly, which results in unauthorized transactions.

What distinguishes fraud in mCommerce?

Compared to conventional online threats, mCommerce presents distinct challenges. The lack of strong security measures among those who create mobile apps may leave gaps that fraudsters can take advantage of. Furthermore, the convenience with which payment details can be accessed on mobile devices may result in quick and covert unauthorised purchases that have an impact on both customers and retailers.

‘Smishing’ (SMS phishing), unsecure Wi-Fi networks, increased data exposure from multi-platform interactions, and family fraud—where kids might unintentionally make purchases on a parent’s mobile device—are some specific risk factors in the mCommerce space.

Ten suggestions to protect your company

Fighting mCommerce fraud effectively necessitates a multifaceted strategy. Ten practical suggestions to safeguard your company and maintain happy mCommerce clients are provided below:

Put 2FA into practice: By requiring a second form of verification during transactions or account logins, two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security.

Employ mobile device verification: Use integrity checks and fingerprinting to confirm the validity of the device being used for transactions.

Encourage the use of mobile wallets: Encourage the use of safe mobile wallets that require two-factor authentication, such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay.

Keep an eye out for devices that have been jailbroken or rooted: These devices are more vulnerable to security flaws, so find and examine transactions from them.

Invest on fraud-fighting mobile tools: To identify and stop fraudulent activity, use fraud prevention tools made especially for mobile transactions, like device fingerprinting.

Update your mobile app frequently: To guard against potential vulnerabilities, make sure your app is updated frequently with the newest security patches and features.

Employ geolocation: Using the geolocation information from the mobile device, confirm transactions and mark those from strange places for additional examination.

Inform your clients: Provide advice and best practices for safe mobile shopping to help your customers become more aware of mobile security.

Put strong data encryption into practice. To avoid data breaches, securely encrypt all information sent through your mobile app, including payment and personal data.

Keep an eye out for anomalies in user behavior: Examine user behavior within your mobile app to spot odd trends that might point to fraud, like fast, repetitive taps that point to a bot attack.