The eCommerce boom of the last few years has been good for business – and hopefully good for yours.

What began as a temporary explosion of sales during the pandemic has become as firm a feature of modern life as Netflix and smartphones.

But life is rarely simple, and every silver lining has a cloud attached. eCommerce brands may have seen a spike in sales – but they've also seen a spike in scams.

Yes, people are always looking for new and creative ways to get a free lunch – and with online shopping, shipping is the way forward.

Shipping scams can lose you money and give your reputation a knock, too.

There are no 100% foolproof ways to avoid shipping scams. But knowing what to look out for is the first step. The second is taking measures to prevent them.

In the immortal words of Hamlet, "The readiness is all." Sure, he wasn't talking specifically about shipping scams – he had other things on his mind. But the principle still applies.

So without further ado, here are four shipping scams that could negatively impact your eCommerce business – and some steps you can take to avoid them.

1. "Item not received"

If a customer tells you that they've not received their item, they could be telling the truth – even if tracking tells you the item was delivered to the address they gave you.

Maybe the parcel got swiped by a marauding "porch pirate". It's not uncommon – in 2019, a whopping 90,000 packages went missing in New York City.

But it could also be a scam. The customer claims that they haven't received their order and asks for a refund.

This scam puts eCommerce brands in a bind. On the one hand, you could challenge the claim – but if the customer has a legitimate complaint, you risk losing them as a future customer.

Or you could just shrug your shoulders and grudgingly issue a replacement. That's fine – but if word gets out that you're a soft touch, you could be targeted by more scammers.

There's no easy answer. But having a clearly worded returns policy can make would-be fraudsters think twice. And factoring it in as a possible cost when budgeting can be advisable too.

2. The customer changes the delivery address after the order has been processed

This is another common scam that isn't always easy to detect.

Put yourself in the shoes of a fraudster. You've obtained someone's credit card information and are using it to order a beautiful porcelain horse from a web store.

You type out your victim's billing address. But while they live in John O'Groats, you want it delivered to Land's End.

You have a choice. You can put in two addresses – but that might look dodgy. Your best bet is to put in both addresses and then change the delivery address after the order has been processed.

This is a nasty scam because it impacts two people – you and the person whose credit card info has been pinched. And it's you, not the fraudster, who will have to reimburse the genuine cardholder.

As with the "item not received" scam, this one is difficult to avoid because a change of delivery address could be legitimate. Perhaps the person wants to get it delivered at work or to somewhere they're staying temporarily.

You could just introduce a blanket ban on changing delivery addresses – but then you might lose a customer in the process.

Your best bet is to take these requests on a case-by-case basis. If the new address is in a completely different part of the country, for instance, you might smell a rat.

It also helps to have good, clear lines of communication open with your fulfilment partner. That way, if the fraudster contacts them asking for the delivery address to be changed, you'll be alerted right away.

With this scam, there are steps you can take to try and verify a person's identity. You can email them or ring them up to see if those details are correct. You could also try to verify them on social media.

3. Pagejacking

Pagejacking is where fraudsters create a fake webpage that looks like the real thing. It's the digital equivalent of those knock-off branded T-shirts and sunglasses you sometimes see in the market.

A pagejacker could create a login page that looks just like yours and harvest usernames and passwords.

This isn't nearly as common as the above two scams. But if you do become aware of a fake page in your name – act.

4. Hackers breaking into your shipping accounts

Some fraudsters will try to hack into your shipping account and then use the details to process orders.

This could be anything from an individual item to large-scale drug smuggling. Either way, you're taking the financial hit because the delivery is made in your name.

One way to avoid this is to make sure that sensitive details aren't passed around willy-nilly.

In cyber security, there's something called the "principle of least privilege". This means that people are assigned access only to systems that they need.

Wendy from Finance doesn't need permanent access to documents that don't relate to her role. Transferring this to the world of shipping, ask yourself: who in the company needs to know the details of the shipping account?

Taking care of security is obviously a priority when running a business of any size – and it can help you to avoid falling victim to this kind of shipping scam.

The bottom line

It's a sad fact that there are people out there looking for a free lunch. Like many things in life, your best bet is to know what to look out for and prepare accordingly. Good luck!

Stowsafe Fulfilment is a trusted 3PL and warehousing service based in Somerset, UK. For more eCommerce advice, follow our logistics blog.