<ul class="wccom-tick-list-primary">
<li><strong>Signup Verification</strong></li>
<li><strong>Checkout Verification</strong></li>
<li><strong>Login Authentication</strong></li>
<li><strong>Customizable Verification Experience</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr class="wccom-product-heading__hr" />
<h3>Signup Verification</h3>
<p>When a user registers on your WooCommerce store, they must verify their email before their account is created. As soon as they complete the signup form, an automated verification email with a unique OTP (One-Time Password) is sent to their inbox. A verification popup appears on the registration page, prompting users to enter the OTP. If they do not verify their email, their account remains uncreated, ensuring that only valid customers can register. Users can request a new OTP if needed, and the verification process remains seamless and secure. This feature helps prevent fake registrations, spam accounts, and unauthorized signups, improving your store’s security and data accuracy.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18734004926401" src="https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/signup-verification.png" alt="" width="527" height="489" /></p>
<h3>Checkout Verification</h3>
<p>For guest users who want to make a purchase, email verification is required before completing the checkout process. This ensures that only genuine users can place orders, reducing fraudulent and spam purchases. When a guest user enters their email on the cart or checkout page, a verification email with an OTP (One-Time Password) is sent to their inbox. They must enter the OTP to proceed with the order.</p>
<p>Additionally, there is an option to <strong>require checkout verification only for free orders</strong>, ensuring that users claiming free products verify their email before completing the order.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18734004926411" src="https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/checkout-verification.png" alt="" width="534" height="506" /></p>
<h3>Login Authentication</h3>
<p>Enhance the security of your WooCommerce store with Login Authentication, ensuring that only verified users can access their accounts. This feature provides two levels of authentication to protect user accounts from unauthorized access.</p>
<p>The first option sends an email notification whenever a user logs in, informing them of the login activity, including details such as the device and location. This helps users stay informed and take action if any suspicious activity is detected.</p>
<p>The second option adds an extra layer of security by requiring email verification when a user logs in from a different browser, a new device, or after a certain period of inactivity. In this case, an OTP (One-Time Password) is sent to the registered email, and the user must enter it to complete the login process. Without verifying the OTP, they will not be able to access their account, ensuring protection against unauthorized logins.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18734004926416" src="https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/login-authentication.png" alt="" width="636" height="489" /></p>
<h3>Customizable Verification Experience</h3>
<p>Enhance the user experience with a fully customizable verification popup and email design. Store admins can personalize the verification popup’s layout, colors, text, and styling to match their brand identity, ensuring a seamless and professional look.</p>
<p>Additionally, the verification email content can be customized to include personalized messages, branding elements, and clear instructions for users to complete their email verification. These customization options help create a cohesive and branded experience while improving user engagement and trust.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18734004926417" src="https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/customizable-verification-experience.png" alt="" width="641" height="381" /></p>

Customer Email Verification

<p>The Customer Email Verification will verify your customers’ email addresses during registration and checkout to reduce registration and spam orders.</p>

<div style="width: 980px" class="wp-video"><video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-0-1" width="980" height="551" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><a href="https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ShopDefenderPromo.mp4">https://woocommerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ShopDefenderPromo.mp4</a></video></div>
<p> </p>
<hr class="wccom-product-heading__hr" />
<p></p>
<h2>Key Benefits</h2>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-primary">
<li><strong>Stop Fraud Before Payment</strong> – Block fraudulent orders at checkout before any money changes hands</li>
<li><strong>100% Local — No External APIs</strong> – All fraud checks run on your server. No data leaves your site, no third-party dependencies, no per-transaction fees</li>
<li><strong>Flexible Response Actions</strong> – Block suspicious orders outright, place them on hold for review, or flag them for attention — your rules, your call</li>
<li><strong>Intelligent Risk Scoring</strong> – Automatic fraud detection with disposable email detection, IP tracking, country mismatch analysis, and more</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Main Features</h2>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Custom Blocking Rules</strong> – Create rules targeting emails, domains, phones, IPs, countries, addresses, names, payment methods, and shipping methods</li>
<li><strong>4 Matching Modes</strong> – Exact match, contains, wildcard patterns, and full regex support</li>
<li><strong>Automatic Risk Scoring</strong> – 6 configurable risk signals with adjustable weights and thresholds</li>
<li><strong>Classic & Blocks Checkout</strong> – Full protection for both WooCommerce checkout experiences</li>
<li><strong>Order Risk Metabox</strong> – Color-coded risk badges, scores, and detailed risk factors on every order</li>
<li><strong>Complete Audit Trail</strong> – Every fraud check logged with context, action, trigger, score, and metadata</li>
<li><strong>WooCommerce Analytics Integration</strong> – Security Logs report directly in the WooCommerce Analytics dashboard</li>
<li><strong>GDPR & Privacy Ready</strong> – Built-in privacy policy integration with transparent data handling</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<h3>Rule-Based Blocking</h3>
<p>Build your own defense with powerful, flexible rules. Target orders by email address, domain, phone number, IP address, country, city, postcode, billing or shipping address, customer name, payment method, or shipping method. Choose from exact match, contains, wildcard, or regex matching. Set rules to block, hold, or flag — and add expiration dates for temporary rules.</p>
</div>
<div class="">
<h3>Intelligent Risk Scoring</h3>
<p>Every order is automatically assessed against six configurable risk signals: disposable email detection, IP reputation tracking, billing/shipping country mismatch, suspicious address keywords, new account age, and high-value order thresholds. Each signal has an adjustable weight, and you set the thresholds that determine whether an order is blocked, held, or flagged.</p>
</div>
<div class="">
<h3>Real-Time Checkout Protection</h3>
<p>Shop Defender intercepts fraudulent orders at the earliest possible moment — before payment is processed. Full support for both the classic WooCommerce checkout and the newer WooCommerce Blocks checkout. When an order is blocked, draft orders are automatically cleaned up and the customer sees your customizable error message.</p>
</div>
<div class="">
<h3>Order Risk Assessment</h3>
<p>Every order gets a detailed risk assessment stored as metadata. A dedicated metabox on the order page shows a color-coded badge (blocked, on hold, flagged, or low risk), a visual risk score bar, and a breakdown of every risk factor that contributed to the score. Optionally display a fraud risk column directly on the orders list.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p></p>
<h2>How It Works</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>Install & Activate</strong> – Upload the plugin and activate it alongside WooCommerce</li>
<li><strong>Enable Protection</strong> – Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Shop Defender and enable the plugin</li>
<li><strong>Configure Risk Thresholds</strong> – Adjust signal weights and set your block/hold score thresholds</li>
<li><strong>Create Rules (Optional)</strong> – Add custom rules for known bad actors, risky domains, or suspicious patterns</li>
<li><strong>Monitor & Review</strong> – Review flagged orders, check risk scores, and refine your rules using the audit log</li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<h2>Comprehensive Rule Types</h2>
<p>Target fraud from every angle:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Email & Domain</strong> – Block specific addresses or entire domains (e.g., *@disposable.com)</li>
<li><strong>Phone Number</strong> – Normalized matching strips formatting differences automatically</li>
<li><strong>IP Address</strong> – Block known bad IPs with exact or pattern matching</li>
<li><strong>Country, State, City & Postcode</strong> – Geographic restrictions for billing and shipping</li>
<li><strong>Billing & Shipping Address</strong> – Catch suspicious address patterns like PO boxes</li>
<li><strong>Customer Name</strong> – Block known fraudulent names with case-insensitive matching</li>
<li><strong>Payment Method</strong> – Restrict specific payment methods for flagged contexts</li>
<li><strong>Shipping Method</strong> – Route orders based on chosen shipping options</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Configurable Risk Signals</h2>
<p>Fine-tune fraud detection with six adjustable signals:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Disposable Email Detection</strong> – Bundled database of 5,000+ known disposable email domains (default: +30 points)</li>
<li><strong>Failed IP Tracking</strong> – Flag IPs with a history of blocked orders in a configurable lookback period (default: +20 points)</li>
<li><strong>Country Mismatch</strong> – Detect when billing and shipping countries differ (default: +15 points)</li>
<li><strong>Suspicious Address Keywords</strong> – Configurable keyword list for risky address patterns like PO boxes (default: +10 points)</li>
<li><strong>New Account Detection</strong> – Flag orders from recently created accounts (default: +10 points, configurable age threshold)</li>
<li><strong>High-Value Order Alerts</strong> – Extra scrutiny for orders above a configurable amount (default: +15 points, $300 threshold)</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Three Response Actions</h2>
<p>Choose the right response for every situation:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Block</strong> – Hard deny at checkout. Payment is never processed. The customer sees your customizable error message. Draft orders are automatically deleted.</li>
<li><strong>Hold</strong> – The order is placed on hold for manual review. An admin note is added with full risk details. You decide whether to approve or cancel.</li>
<li><strong>Flag</strong> – The order completes normally but is marked with a warning. A note and risk score are attached for your review when fulfilling.</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Complete Audit Trail</h2>
<p>Every fraud check is logged for accountability and analysis:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Full Context Logging</strong> – Context (checkout, order), action taken, trigger type (rule or heuristic), risk score, and metadata</li>
<li><strong>Advanced Filtering</strong> – Filter logs by context, action, email, IP address, or order ID</li>
<li><strong>Automatic Retention</strong> – Daily WP-Cron task prunes logs older than your configured retention period (default: 90 days)</li>
<li><strong>Analytics Integration</strong> – Access a dedicated Security Logs report in WooCommerce > Analytics with date filtering and sorting</li>
<li><strong>Manual Management</strong> – Delete specific log entries or prune by age at any time</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Powerful Admin Interface</h2>
<p>Everything you need, right inside WooCommerce:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Modern React UI</strong> – Fast, responsive settings interface built with WordPress components</li>
<li><strong>Risk Metabox</strong> – Color-coded badges, visual score bars, and risk factor breakdowns on every order</li>
<li><strong>Orders List Column</strong> – Optional fraud risk column with risk level badges and scores</li>
<li><strong>Customizable Messages</strong> – Edit the customer-facing block message and admin hold note templates</li>
<li><strong>Capability-Based Access</strong> – Configure which user role can manage Shop Defender settings</li>
<li><strong>Debug Mode</strong> – Enable detailed logging to the WooCommerce debug log for troubleshooting</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Privacy & GDPR Compliance</h2>
<p>Transparent data handling built into the core:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>Privacy Policy Integration</strong> – Automatic suggested privacy policy text added to WordPress Privacy settings</li>
<li><strong>Local Processing Only</strong> – No data sent to external services. All checks run entirely on your server.</li>
<li><strong>Configurable Retention</strong> – Set how long logs are kept (1–365 days) with automatic daily cleanup</li>
<li><strong>Data Transparency</strong> – Clear documentation of what data is collected, why, and how long it is stored</li>
<li><strong>Clean Uninstall</strong> – Optional removal of all plugin data (tables, options, order metadata) on uninstall</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<h2>Seamless Integration</h2>
<p>Works with your existing WooCommerce setup:</p>
<ul class="wccom-tick-list-secondary">
<li><strong>WooCommerce HPOS</strong> – Fully compatible with High-Performance Order Storage</li>
<li><strong>Classic & Blocks Checkout</strong> – Full protection for both checkout experiences</li>
<li><strong>Multisite Ready</strong> – Per-site rule and log isolation on WordPress multisite networks</li>
<li><strong>WooCommerce Analytics</strong> – Dedicated Security Logs report in the Analytics dashboard</li>
<li><strong>REST API</strong> – Full CRUD API for rules, logs, and settings for programmatic management</li>
<li><strong>Developer Hooks</strong> – Actions and filters to extend fraud decisions, risk signals, and disposable domain lists</li>
<li><strong>Any Theme</strong> – Admin-only plugin with no frontend output — works with any theme</li>
</ul>

Shop Defender

<p>Stop losing revenue to fraudulent orders and chargebacks. Shop Defender catches bad actors before payment is processed — using custom rules, intelligent risk scoring, and disposable email detection — all running locally on your server with no third-party fees or data sharing.</p>

Customer Email Verification vs Shop Defender