Snapdeal counters fraudulent transactions, reports savings of up to Rs. 3 crore

India's largest online marketplace Snapdeal on Monday announced a range of initiatives launched at curbing fraudulent online transactions, are accruing massive cost savings for the company.

From checks on bogus/fake sellers to identifying fake user accounts, to deploying sophisticated algorithms that identify any suspicious trends, Snapdeal has consistently been working on enhancing security and transparency across the entire ecosystem. The initiatives have resulted in the company saving close to Rs. three crore per month.

The company shared its deep reliance on analytics to identify any suspicious trends that consumer data may throw up. For instance, based on purchase patterns and past behaviors, the system can identify whether a seller is selling counterfeit goods or manipulating pricing information to take advantage of the promotions on the marketplace.

Likewise, sellers are also safeguarded from rare but possible occurrences of fraudulent purchases. Such instances are used to build in checks and balances that ensure such behaviour is addressed and weeded out, through legal channels.

Snapdeal also regularly inspects listings to identify instances of listing/selling of counterfeit products, monitors seller practices through on-going mystery shopping exercises, and keeps a check on any unwarranted manipulations in seller ratings or pricing.

The company has also adopted several means to cut down courier frauds, including open delivery, X-ray examination of packages at fulfillment centers and verification of returns as part of the quality control process. Along with a more stringent last mile verification process, wherein the on-site certified engineers visit and fix customer's problem on spot, these timely interventions have drastically reduced Snapdeal's rate of returns.

"Fraudulent transactions are a serious threat to the health of any e-commerce ecosystem. We are committed to staying one step ahead of fraudsters always, and delivering the most secure, frictionless and reliable e-commerce experience to our buyers and sellers alike. As the size of the marketplace increases, we will continue to prioritize building due checks and balances at each step of the transaction cycle," said an official spokesperson from Snapdeal.

Snapdeal is amongst the first ones in the industry to support and comply with government policies and statutory norms trying to adopt best practices of industry and cross company benchmarking, as per the applicability.

It recently earned the prestigious ISO 27001 certification, which means the company complies with one of the most stringent standards of data and process security.