## FORTER

# Forter for Marketplaces

## End-to-end trust for every seller and buyer, every step of the lifecycle

**POWERED BY 2B+ IDENTITIES**  
**REAL-TIME AI DECISIONS**  
**ZERO MANUAL REVIEW**  
*The only solution that protects both sides of your marketplace — including collusion*

**50%**  
of marketplace fraud  
involves buyer x seller  
collusion

**79%**  
increase in ATO  
attempts YoY  
(2024–2025)

**>99%**  
average approval  
rate across Forter’s  
network

**2B+**  
verified  
identities  
powering instant

## Seller Lifecycle Protection

### Registration & Onboarding

Fraudsters target seller accounts from first registration through final payout. Forter’s AI evaluates every seller  
touchpoint in real time — stopping fake storefronts, account takeovers, and triangulation fraud before they  
reach your buyers.

**The threat?** Synthetic IDs, fake storefronts, KYB bypass — fraudsters create seller accounts at scale to enable  
downstream fraud.

**Fake**  
**Merchant**  
**Accounts**

### Synthetic identity detection at onboarding

Fraudsters use stolen or fabricated identities (synthetic IDs, fake company registrations) to  
open seller accounts. Once active, these storefronts are used for triangulation, goods-nevershipped scams, or as payout vehicles.

**Forter solution:** *Sign-Up Protection API evaluates device signals, email reputation, identity graph,*  
*and cross-network behaviour to block fake registrations at the point of account creation — before*  
*any listing goes live.*

---

### Catalog Activation & First Transactions

**The threat?** Fraudulent listings, triangulation fraud using stolen cards on third-party merchants to fulfill real  
marketplace orders.

### Triangulation Fraud

A fake seller posts desirable items on your marketplace. A real buyer purchases. The  
fraudster uses a stolen credit card to order the item from a legitimate retailer, shipping it to the  
buyer. The marketplace pays the fraudster, the victim merchant absorbs the chargeback.

**Forter solution:** *Seller Account Protection detects patterns of multiple shipping addresses, reused*  
*device/email signals across accounts, and unusual first-transaction velocity. Identity graph cross-*  
*references the seller against Forter’s 2B+ network to surface known fraud rings immediately.*

### Account Management & Seller ATO

**The threat?**  Credential stuffing and ATO targeting seller accounts to hijack IBAN/payout details and divert  
commission payouts.

### IBAN hijack & payout diversion

**ATO:**  
**Seller**  
**Account**

Fraudsters take over a legitimate seller’s account and change bank account details so future  
marketplace payouts are diverted to attacker-controlled accounts. The real seller may not  
notice until the next payout cycle.

**Forter Solution:** *Login Protection API intercepts suspicious login attempts (credential stuffing, bot-*  
*driven brute force, device anomalies). Session Protection API flags bank detail changes as high-*  
risk profile-access events, triggering step-up MFA. Correlation ID tracks the full verification chain.*

### Disputes, Reviews, & Payment

### Review & Manipulation

**Fake reviews & competitor sabotage**

Fraudsters use bot networks and fake accounts  
to inflate their own ratings or flood competitor  
listings with false negatives.

**Forter solution:** *Account Protection identifies*  
*multi-accounting patterns and bot-driven activity.*  
*Policy Builder enforces custom rules to flag review*  
*submissions from suspicious device clusters.*

### Deactivation evasion & banning new identities

### Suspension & Churn

Suspended fraudsters immediately re-register  
under new synthetic identities, restarting the cycle.

**Forter solution:** *Forter’s identity graph persists signals*  
*across sessions and devices. Even when fraudsters*  
*change email, device, or IP, behavioural and network*  
fingerprints flag them on re-registration.*

---

## Buyer Lifecycle Protection

From first sign-up to loyalty rewards, every buyer touchpoint carries risk. Forter protects the full buyer journey —  
approving good customers instantly while stopping fraud, abuse, and chargebacks at every stage.

### Discovery & Registration

**Fake**  
**Buyer**  
**Accounts**

### Synthetic identity detection at onboarding

Fraudsters create multiple buyer accounts to farm sign-up bonuses, referral credits, and  
first-order discounts. Bot networks automate account creation at scale, draining promotional  
budgets.

**Forter Solution:** *Sign-Up Protection API detects device fingerprint reuse, email clustering, and*  
*velocity patterns associated with multi-account creation. Policy Builder lets your team define and*  
*enforce custom promo eligibility rules without manual review.*

### Browsing, Cart, & Checkout

### Promo Abuse

### Code stacking & fake sign-ups

Fraudsters use bot networks and fake  
accounts to inflate their own ratings or flood  
competitor listings with false negatives.

### Payment Fraud

### Stolen card, BNPL abuse, & digital wallet fraud

Fraudsters test stolen card details via low-value  
purchases then escalate, or exploit BNPL and wallet  
payment methods with synthetic identities.

**Forter solution:** *Fraud Management API evaluates*  
*6,000+ data points pre-authorisation. Card testing*  
*patterns trigger instant decline. Chargeback*  
*Guarantee covers all Forter-approved transactions.*

### Buyer Account ATO

**ATO:**  
**Buyer**  
**Account**

Fraudsters use credential stuffing to access buyer accounts, drain  
stored gift card balances and loyalty points, add stolen payment cards, or make high-value  
purchases using saved payment methods.

**Forter Solution:** *Login Protection API evaluates every successful login attempt against behavioural*  
*baselines, device fingerprints, and network signals. ATO-dedicated ML model (6%+ improved*  
detection, Oct 2024 release) triggers step-up MFA only when genuinely suspicious — preserving*  
*experience for good customers.*

---

## Delivery, Returns, & Post-Purchase Fraud

### INR Claim Fraud

### Item-not-received & empty box scams

Buyers receive their order then falsely claim  
it never arrived or was empty to obtain a full refund  
while keeping the goods.

### Friendly Fraud

**Forter solution:** *Post-Purchase Updates API feeds*  
*fulfilment and dispute data into Forter’s model. Abuse*  
*Prevention tracks refund claim patterns against the*  
buyer’s full identity history across the network.*

### Chargeback abuse & serial refunders

Previously legitimate buyers initiate chargebacks  
after receiving goods, or serially abuse return and  
refund policies.

**Forter solution:** *Forter’s cross-merchant identity*  
*network identifies serial refund abusers even when*  
they appear as first-time buyers on your platform.*  
*Chargeback Recovery automates dispute responses.*

### Reviews & Loyalty

### Loyalty point theft, rating manipulation, & rewards farming

**Loyalty &**  
**Returns**  
**Abuse**

Fraudsters drain loyalty accounts via ATO, manipulate ratings to gain algorithmic advantage,  
or farm rewards points through fake transactions.

**Forter Solution:** *Session Protection API monitors in-session activities including point redemptions*  
and transfers as high-risk profile-access events. Account Protection ties loyalty actions to verified*  
*identity, not just session tokens.*

### Buyer x Seller Collusion

The most complex and damaging form of marketplace fraud  
involves both a fake or compromised buyer account and a  
fake or compromised seller account. Forter’s Marketplace  
Collusion Model is purpose-built for this threat.

**Collusion accounts for up to 40% of marketplace fraud.**  
**Common schemes include:**

**•** Seller posts fictitious listings; affiliated fake buyer purchases  
them to launder money

**•** Fraudulent buyer initiates chargeback; seller account  
provides false confirmation of item not shipped

**•** Both accounts manipulate review and rating systems in  
coordinated campaigns

**•** Coordinated triangulation: seller lists item, buyer purchases,  
stolen card used for fulfilment at third-party merchant

### FORTER COLLUSION MODEL

**•** Dedicated ML model links buyer and  
seller accounts through shared device,  
network, and behavioural signals

**•** Detects indirect connections: same  
device cluster, shared IP ranges,  
correlated transaction timing

**•** Real-time decisioning flags suspicious  
buyer x seller pairs before orders are  
completed

**•** Reduces investigation burden — no  
manual review required

**Oct 2025:** *New dedicated Marketplace Collusion*  
*Model released, directly addressing the 40% of*  
*marketplace fraud driven by coordinated buyer x*  
*seller activity.*

---

## Why Forter for Marketplaces

### Single Platform

One integration covers seller  
onboarding, buyer checkout,  
account protection, abuse  
prevention, and postpurchase — no siloed tools.

### Identity Network

2B+ identities and 6,000+  
signals per event. Even firsttime users on your platform  
are known across the Forter  
network.

### Zero False Declines

Merchants lose up to 75x  
more to false declines  
than to fraud. Forter’s >99%  
approval rate keeps good  
customers converting.