Online Shopping Security: Breaking Through on Every Front

This book tackles the core pain points of online shopping security in the age of digital consumption. In 2023, online shopping transactions in China exceeded 15 trillion yuan, with more than one billion users. Yet this “gold mine” has become a “hunting ground” for fraudsters. Scams have evolved from crude phishing websites into precision attacks that use AI to clone the voices of friends and family or create fake merchant credentials with face-swapping technology. From 2020 to 2023, reported cases averaged over three million annually, while AI fraud’s share surged from 5% to 28%.

The book follows the theme of “breaking through the impasse.” First, it exposes the dark side of fraud, breaking down criminal networks ranging from dynamically replicated phishing websites to money laundering through virtual currencies. It then focuses on technological defenses, explaining how AI anti-fraud systems, blockchain traceability, and big data profiling can expose scams. Next, it lays out a global security network based on three-way coordination between government, businesses, and merchants, as well as cooperation between cross-border platforms, and examines how legislation such as the Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law is catching up with emerging crimes. Finally, it returns to ordinary people, offering an “immunity guide” to recognizing scams, trading safely, and asserting their rights, with advice for seniors, young people, and merchants alike.

This book challenges the misconception that fraud can be eradicated, revealing the ultimate answer to online shopping security: make safety permeate every order and every payment like the air we breathe, an inseparable part of digital consumption from the start.