Protect your WHMCS from fraud using FraudRecord

This tutorial is part of our WHMCS tutorials series.

In this video I will show you how to help protect your WHMCS based business from fraud using FraudRecord.

FraudRecord is a free fraud reporting service used by thousands of companies. It allows you to check if a client has been reported for fraud in the past. By checking their name, email, address, IP, PayPal account and more. There is also the option to pay this service forward by reporting any fraudulent orders you receive. It is a community driven project where WHMCS based companies look out for each other. There is no reason not to make use of this free module as it adds a layer of protection to your company.

The first step is to create your free account by visiting FraudRecord.com and clicking on the Free Signup button. It is recommended to signup using a domain based email. As FraudRecord will verify accounts to ensure that you are the owner of your company.

Login to your FraudRecord account and visit the My Reporter Profiles page under the Report Manager menu.

Click on the Add New button. Fill out the form including your company name and website. Make a note of the API code as this is required for the configuration with WHMCS. Assuming you used a domain based email for your account you can leave the Proof Of Ownership field blank.

Visit the Billing Integration page under the Resources menu. Scroll down to WHMCS integration and click on the Download WHMCS Module. The ZIP contains the FraudRecord WHMCS Module which handles the integration between WHMCS and your FraudRecord account. It will allow you to view and submit reports directly from your WHMCS admin area. Extract the ZIP to your desktop.

Login to your hosting account using an FTP client and open your root WHMCS directory, next view the modules directory and then addons. For your local files open the fraudrecord-whmcs directory. Upload the fraudrecord directory to WHMCS.

Login to your WHMCS admin area and open the System Settings. Next click on the Addon Modules button. Find the FraudRecord module and click on the Activate button to the right. Next click on the Configure button and add the API code that you got from your FraudRecord profile. Check the Full Administrator option under Access Control and then Save.

Your WHMCS website can now make use of FraudRecord's free reporting service. You can access FraudRecord within the Addons menu of WHMCS. On this page you will see all of your clients who have completed orders. We recommend verifying each order manually, checking their Fraud Points to see if there's been any previous reports. You can also report clients on this same page. Here is an example of a client who is committing constant fraud. It's these sort of orders that makes FraudRecord well worth using, if a client has this level of fraud reports it is better to refund the order and terminate the account. This will stop the high risk of a chargeback which usually comes with a fee.