In today’s fast-evolving e-commerce landscape, safeguarding our WooCommerce store from fraud is crucial. We recognize the difficulties in spotting and blocking fraudulent activities that can harm both our reputation and revenue. With Aelia Blacklister, managing these risks becomes both straightforward and effective.
Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce allows us to block suspicious visitors by blacklisting specific names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and IP addresses through exact matches or regular expressions. This precise filtering ensures only legitimate customers can access our store. Moreover, the plugin’s advanced risk evaluation assigns a score to each order, helping us automatically block high-risk transactions before they affect our business.
By incorporating Aelia Blacklister into our WooCommerce system, we bolster security and create a reliable, trustworthy shopping environment. This robust tool not only simplifies user management but also provides an extra layer of defense against potential threats, ensuring a secure and seamless experience for our customers. Additionally, integrating the Currency Switcher for WooCommerce enhances transaction ease and customizes the shopping experience for international customers, further boosting our store’s security and overall user satisfaction.
For more on improving user experience in WooCommerce, check out this article on effortlessly renaming country codes in WooCommerce.
What is Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce?
Aelia Blacklister is a robust security plugin designed specifically for WooCommerce stores to help protect them from fraudulent activities. It allows store owners to block unwanted customers based on specific details, ensuring that only legitimate buyers can complete transactions. Whether it’s blocking users based on their name, email, IP address, phone number, or shipping address, Aelia Blacklister provides a customizable and automated solution to safeguard your WooCommerce store against scammers and fraudsters.
How Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce Helps to Blacklist Scammers
Aelia Blacklister empowers WooCommerce store owners with advanced features to efficiently block scammers and fraudulent activities. Here’s how it works:
1. Blocking Customers Based on Specific Information
Aelia Blacklister lets you block customers using various criteria, such as:
- Customer Names: Block specific names or use regex patterns for partial matches.
- Email Addresses: Prevent new accounts from suspicious or flagged email addresses.
- Phone Numbers: Block numbers linked to fraudulent activities.
- Addresses: Block customers from regions or countries associated with scams.
- IP Addresses: Prevent access from known malicious IPs or entire IP ranges.
For more information on how to block specific email addresses to prevent spam orders, check out this guide on preventing spam orders by blocking email addresses in WooCommerce.
2. Advanced Regex Filtering
With the ability to filter data using regular expressions (regex), Aelia Blacklister allows you to catch fraudsters who may slightly alter their details to bypass simple blocks. It enables:
- Blocking partial matches, such as emails from suspicious domains.
- Blocking patterns, like certain phone number formats or addresses used repeatedly by scammers.
3. Automatic Blocking of Fraudulent Orders
Aelia Blacklister automatically blocks fraudulent orders by comparing a customer’s details against your blacklist during the checkout process. If any matching data is found (name, address, email, phone number, or IP), the transaction is halted, preventing financial losses and reputational damage.
4. Customizable Error Messages
When a customer is blocked, you can customize the error message that appears. This keeps your communication transparent and professional, helping you explain to genuine customers why their transaction couldn’t be processed.
5. Risk Assessment for Preemptive Blocking
Aelia Blacklister comes with a built-in risk assessment feature that assigns a risk score to each order based on factors like location and customer behavior. Orders with a high-risk score can be automatically blocked, preventing potentially fraudulent transactions before they even occur.
How to Install and Configure Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce
Installing and configuring Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce is a straightforward process. With this plugin, you can efficiently block fraudulent users based on their email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and other criteria. Below are the steps to help you install and configure Aelia Blacklister for your WooCommerce store.
Installation Steps
Download and Install the Plugin
Before you can start using Aelia Blacklister, you’ll need to download the plugin.
Purchase and Download:
- Go to the Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce product page and purchase the plugin.
- After purchasing, you will be given a ZIP file containing the plugin.
1. Log in to your WordPress Admin Dashboard
- Open your preferred web browser.
- Go to your WordPress login page (usually www.yoursite.com/wp-admin).
- Enter your username and password, then click login to access your WordPress dashboard.
2. Go to Plugins → Add New
- In the left-hand menu of the WordPress dashboard, hover over Plugins.
- In the dropdown that appears, click on Add New. This will take you to the Add Plugins page.
3. Click on “Upload Plugin” at the Top of the Page
- On the Add Plugins page, at the top left, you will see several options, including Upload Plugin.
- Click the Upload Plugin button. This allows you to upload a plugin from your computer instead of selecting one from the WordPress plugin repository.
4. Click on “Choose File” and Select the ZIP File You Downloaded
- After clicking Upload Plugin, a new screen will appear asking you to select the plugin you want to install.
- Click on the Choose File button. This will open a file explorer dialog on your computer.
- Find the ZIP file you downloaded for Aelia Blacklister on your computer, select it, and click Open.
5. Click “Install Now”
- After selecting the ZIP file, the plugin’s name will appear next to the Choose File button.
- Click the Install Now button to start the installation process. WordPress will begin installing the plugin from the ZIP file you selected.
6. Activate the Plugin
- Once the installation is complete, you’ll see a message confirming that the plugin was successfully installed.
- Now, click the Activate button to activate the plugin on your WordPress site.
Configuring Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce
Once the plugin is installed and activated, follow the steps below to configure it.
1. Access the Aelia Blacklister Settings
- After activation, you will see a new menu item called Aelia Blacklister in your WordPress dashboard.
- Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Aelia Blacklister.
This will open the plugin settings where you can configure your blacklisting rules.
2. Set Up Blacklist Criteria
The Aelia Blacklister plugin allows you to block customers based on various criteria, including names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, and IP addresses. Here’s how to configure each:
Blacklist Names:
- Navigate to the Blacklist tab in the settings.
- Under Customer Name, enter the names or surnames you want to block.
- You can add exact names or use regular expressions for partial matches.
Blacklist Email Addresses:
- In the Blacklist Emails section, enter the email addresses you want to block.
- You can block specific addresses or entire email domains (e.g., @fraudulentdomain.com).
- Blacklist Phone Numbers:
- In the Blacklist Phone Numbers section, add phone numbers that are linked to fraudulent activities.
- Use regex if you want to block specific phone number patterns (e.g., numbers starting with a certain prefix).
Blacklist Addresses:
- Under the Blacklist Addresses section, you can block specific addresses or regions.
- You can specify street names, postcodes, cities, or countries that you want to prevent orders from.
Blacklist IP Addresses:
- In the Blacklist IP Addresses section, you can enter specific IP addresses or ranges.
- You can use exact matches, IP address masks (CIDR notation), or IP ranges to block fraudulent sources.
3. Customize Error Messages
When a customer is blocked, it’s important to inform them of why their order was rejected. You can customize the error message that is displayed when a match is found against your blacklist.
- Go to the Messages section in the Aelia Blacklister settings.
- Customize the message that will be shown to blocked customers. For example, you can create a message like:
- “Sorry, your order could not be processed because we detected suspicious activity linked to your account. Please contact support if you believe this is a mistake.”
This ensures that customers understand the reason behind the block and can reach out for clarification.
4. Adjust Match Criteria
Aelia Blacklister offers flexibility in how matches are detected:
- Exact Match: This will block users whose details exactly match the ones you’ve blacklisted.
- Partial Match (using Regular Expressions): This allows you to block users whose details partially match (e.g., blocking all email addresses ending with @fraudulentdomain.com).
- IP Address Range Matching: If you want to block a range of IP addresses, you can specify this in the IP address section.
5. Save and Apply the Settings
Once you have configured all the blacklist criteria and customized the error messages:
- Click on Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
- The plugin will now begin comparing customer data against the blacklisted entries during checkout.
6. Monitor and Update Your Blacklist
After configuring the Aelia Blacklister plugin, it’s important to regularly monitor and update your blacklist to stay ahead of fraud attempts.
- Check Blocked Orders:
- In the Aelia Blacklister settings, you can view a report of blocked orders, allowing you to track which customers have been flagged.
- Update the Blacklist:
- As you receive new information about scammers or fraudulent activities, update your blacklist accordingly. Regularly review and add new entries to keep your store protected.
- Adjust Criteria as Needed:
- As fraud tactics evolve, you may need to refine your matching criteria or add more entries to the blacklist.
Discover More Plugins from Aelia
To further optimize your WooCommerce store, take a look at Aelia’s Prices by Country for WooCommerce plugin. This tool allows you to set different prices for customers based on their location, helping you offer customized pricing that accounts for local market conditions, taxes, and shipping fees. It’s ideal for businesses with a global customer base or those operating across multiple regions, streamlining the process of managing pricing variations.