After a successful experience during 2020, the Chamber of the Digital Economy of Uruguay (CEDU) started its training cycle 2021, with the aim of providing knowledge and tools necessary to develop in the world of e-commerce.
The first instance of this year was attended by Sebastián Franco and Ricardo Pinillos, Presales Manager and Product Manager of Evertec, respectively, a leading firm in Latin America and the Caribbean in technology and electronic transactions, to address the problem of fraud in e-commerce and how companies can prevent this crime.
At the beginning of the talk Pinillos described fraud in digital commerce as transactions that are not carried out by the account holders involved or are passed off as having been carried out.
Franco pointed out that this crime materializes when the different payment methods come into play in the electronic market procedures, but Pinillos described several previous steps that lead to fraud and how the criminal organizations involved act. In the first instance, there is a "data leakage" that, through different mechanisms, cybercriminals manage to steal from both individuals and businesses. This information is sold to other criminal groups that will be responsible for carrying out the fraud.
"People are the most fragile link in the chain, and it is through them that this information is exceeded," said the expert, since there are different mechanisms of deception by which users end up entrusting personal and banking information to insecure sites.
Despite this situation, Pinillos remarked that businesses are the most harmed in this type of crime, since the Marketplace or gateways, generally, protect customers and businesses are left without the money and without the product or services they tried to market. "In the contracts with the cards, generally, businesses assume the risks. And in the drive for growth, they don't pay attention to security," he added.
Pinillos also indicated when fraud situations in e-Commerce tend to occur more frequently. One of them is through high-value products (such as cell phones, tablets or other electronic devices), which are "highly resaleable" due to their high demand. It can also occur through services that require payments through intermediaries (tax payments, subscriptions, etc.) or through accounts where money needs to be debited.
"These mechanisms can give the impression that the merchant is making more profit, but in reality they are being victimized by cybercriminals, as they make deposits, but actually get the money out in some other way," Franco added, noting that not only physical merchants can be affected by fraud.
With this crime, businesses can not only be harmed economically, but also in its reputation, as customers will perceive it as an unsafe place to shop and also lose the confidence of the brands it sells. "I can lose little money, all my profitability or affect my entire business with the loss of suppliers," Franco said.
In view of this, experts pointed out which are the mechanisms to establish security in stores and avoid being victims of fraud. Pinillos stressed that the main thing is that organizations have their own control mechanisms to check user information, in addition to the systems that can offer the Marketplace. Franco stressed that the use of technology is of utmost importance, since biometrics, artificial intelligence and others can track the habits of users, which allows detecting suspicious actions.
In addition, they noted the importance of user authentication protocols used by different sites, enabling greater security for merchants.
Finally, they stressed the need to detect actions that may be indicating a possible risk of fraud, such as an abrupt growth in the sale of certain products, the times at which transactions are made and the geographical areas from which they come. "Many times we focus on the positives of making more sales and we are not able to perceive the existing risks," said Pinillos.
This meeting, as well as all those held during 2020, can be relived in the Youtube channel "CEDU Uruguay" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnAmlBELH0REWgf-TwdXriA
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