How To Have Safer Online Transactions Using Geolocation
Effective online fraud prevention often involves several
technologies, each targeted towards a specific fraud indicator.
However, in the arsenal of online anti-fraud tools, IP
geolocation is one that's getting more attention from companies
that conduct their business online. booggins (
http://www.booggins.com ) has recently introduced technology
that identifies the geographic location, IP address, and ISP of
it's web site visitors, deploying geolocation as part of it's
online fraud prevention program. The implementation of such a
system is a significant step towards the creation of a safer,
fraud free environment in which members can build profitable,
trusting relationshps with one another.
The Internet Fraud Prevention Advisory Council has estimated
that the incidence of online fraud as a percentage of business
revenues is up to 40 times higher than offline transactions in
which the buyer is physically present. That's facilitated in
large part by the anonymity of the online customer and the lack
of direct communication between trade participants.
In 2005, for example, the risk management arm of the information
company LexisNexis studied more than 100,000 transactions by a
major online retailer. The study found that 75% of identified
fraudulent orders with U.S. billing addresses had been placed
from overseas. It also found that in over 85% of fraudulent
domestic transactions, the customer's billing address didn't
match the state from which the order was actually placed, and
that fraud rates were 15 times higher for such mismatched
transactions.
booggins cuts that risk by determining the geographic location
of each member in real time and attaching this information to
each item listing, blog entry, and blog comment, for others to
see. This allows trade counterparts or interested parties to
compare the data on a member's IP domain of origin with the
billing and shipping address information that they supplied when
registering. It's then up to each member to determine their
course of action. Additionally, because the free webphone
service Skype is supported from any booggins' account, direct
person-to-person communication is available at no cost. This
provides an additional, cost-cutting platform that allows any
misunderstandings or questions to be immediately cleared up.
Geolocation technology helps each member of booggins to create a
rule based system for their online transactions that efficiently
balances the dual risks of fraud losses and the blocking of
legitimate customers.