E-commerce is the way of the , available in the present. It is everywhere we go, dominating the retail trade market in a big way. According to Sellerscommerce.com, 1/3 of the global population shops online, making e-commerce a $6.3 trillion industry expected to hit $8 trillion by 2027. 

The stats are mind-blowing, with 2.71 billion people paying for products and services rendered online through e-commerce platforms. In 2024 alone, some 20.1% of all retail purchases occurred online. By 2027, this figure is expected to rise to 22.6%. Regarding online presence, e-commerce has left a mind-blowing footprint, with 26.6 million stores globally. 

Other interesting stats include 99% of consumers looking for critiques online, 34% of online customers shopping weekly, and 52% of online shoppers looking past their country porters for products. With such impressive statistics comes a mix of opportunities and obstacles. 

From January through October 2024, we launched 1,600,000+ new e-commerce sites, with sales exceeding $580 billion for Q1 and Q2 of 2024. Notable increases in sales came from Dutch consumers, Chinese, e-commerce sites, and Belgium, according to ChinaDaily, The Brussels Times, and INC42.

High Incidence of Online Fraud Taking Place Worldwide 

According to reports from Total Retail, e-commerce fraud is rapidly becoming a super skirt for the retail industry. Journalist Mike Cassidy penned an op-ed on the rampant increase in fraudulent activity. 

• Attempts at placing fake orders were up 19% during Q1 plus and Q2 of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. 
• Professional fraud syndicates have expanded into new territories, including nonpayment fraud – first-party fraud and abuse. This has driven a 4% year on your increase in consumer abuse.
• 13% of orders now include evidence of address, manipulation, and cases of attempted re-shipper fraud have increased by 50% in 2024

How can e-commerce Sites Build Trust with Customers in a Wild West-style shopping Engagement zone?

Cybersecurity giants are meeting the fake products and payment scans head-on. One of the most effective modalities to combat the rampant increase in fraudulent activity online is malicious package protection. With the help of advanced, fresh, changing technology, SMEs can fight back and eliminate the threats posed by malicious and suspicious open-source packages in the software development lifecycle.

Companies have access to automated scanning tech, complemented by a vast proprietary database of malicious packages that can easily be identified and remediated. Any time a dangerous open-source code exists in company architecture applications, it will be picked up by the smart security infrastructure. Thanks to the collective efforts of IT security professionals, this software features a massive malicious packages database with plenty of credible threats. 

The steps in complete, malicious package protection include the following:

• The attacker publishes a malicious package
• The developer consumes the malicious package
• Upon usage, a malicious payload is carry outd
• Data is extracted from the network, server, system, or architecture

Thanks to multi-layered package analysis techniques, the new protection against fake products and payment scams now sports databases of over 400,000 + malicious packages and counting. Detecting these packages in show files, containers, and binaries makes it possible to get remediation efforts underway. Given the many possible threat vectors, many of which are not fully vetted, reliability metrics are available to measure the threat level posted by applications.

Thanks to automated policy actions – incident reports, sending alerts, etc. – IT security teams, consultants, management, and stakeholders can stay abreast of all detected malicious packages. Search systems are very useful in the continuing fight against fake products and payment scams focusing on hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses worldwide.

Industries Most Lasting Resultsed by Fake Products 

Fake products promoted through e-commerce websites are a dime a dozen. According to research conducted by Felix Richter on Statista, the following industries are heavily impacted by counterfeit products:

• Footwear – 22%
• Clothing – 16%
• Leather goods – 13%
• Electrical equipment – 12%
• Watches – 7%
• Medical equipment – 5%
• Perfumes and cosmetics – 5%
• Toys – 3%
• Jewelry – 2%
• Pharmaceuticals – 2%
• Other industries – 12%

Shopper POV – Stay Informed of the Latest Payment Scams 

The short price in payment scams is equally alarming, particularly with mobile payment apps. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) offered advice in its article: Mobile Payment Apps: How to Avoid a Scam When You Use One. Given the pervasiveness of mobile payment applications (for sending and receiving money), many scammers attempt to finagle their way into the equation by tricking the customer into believing that money was sent and perhaps overpaid. A refund is due to the buyer. 

Other scammers attempt to get unsuspecting shoppers to send money through payment apps, like Venmo, Zelle, and others, because once the money is gone, it’s gone for good. Yet others promised customers through email or physical mail that they had won a sweepstakes and needed to pay a small fee to claim their prize. Again, another scan. Whether it’s PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or others, clear and established rules exist to avoid becoming a scam victim. Stay informed.