Managing a WooCommerce store brings its own set of hurdles—one of the most critical being store security. Fraudulent transactions, chargebacks, abusive users, and untrusted visitors can significantly impact your operations. To protect your online business, it’s vital to regulate who can access and complete purchases on your site. A reliable approach is to block or blacklist fraudulent users in WooCommerce based on defined behaviors or patterns. Although this functionality isn’t available by default in WooCommerce, the Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce plugin offers a powerful way to identify and restrict suspicious users, helping to prevent problematic orders before they happen.
For enhanced performance and stability, pairing this with the WooCommerce Cache Handler can make a big difference. It improves site speed and ensures that security features—like blacklisting—run efficiently, even under high traffic loads. By using these tools together, you create a safer and smoother shopping environment for both your customers and your team.
Why Blocking and Blacklisting Fraud Users Matters
Fraudulent users don’t just cause financial losses—they also damage your store’s reputation, waste your resources, and negatively affect the experience of genuine customers. These users may place fake orders, exploit loopholes for discounts, initiate chargebacks, or use stolen payment methods, which can lead to account holds or bans from payment gateways.
By proactively blacklisting known or suspicious IP addresses, email addresses, or billing information, you create a barrier against repeated abuse. This also reduces operational headaches like refund management, unnecessary customer service inquiries, and lost inventory. In short, implementing a user-blocking strategy is a key part of your WooCommerce store’s overall security framework. For more detailed tips on securing your store, check out our Essential Guide to Blocking IP Addresses and Emails for WooCommerce Store Security.
Next, let’s look at how to identify fraud users and what criteria you can use to block them effectively.
How to Identify Fraudulent WooCommerce Users
Before blocking or blacklisting users, it’s essential to recognize the warning signs of suspicious activity. While not all unusual behavior is fraudulent, consistent patterns may signal abuse or bad intentions. Here are some common indicators:
- Multiple failed payment attempts – Often a red flag for stolen credit card use or bots.
- Mismatched billing and shipping addresses – Especially if orders are high-value or expedited.
- Repeated use of disposable or suspicious email addresses – Temporary or unusual domains can indicate fraud attempts.
- Unusual order frequency or volume – Several orders in a short time, especially from a new customer, may signal abuse.
- High-risk regions or flagged IP addresses – Some locations have higher rates of eCommerce fraud.
- Previous chargebacks or disputes – Returning users with a history of disputes are high-risk.
Once you’ve spotted these red flags, you can take targeted action—such as blacklisting users by their IP address, email, or billing info—to stop fraud before it escalates.
To dive deeper into strengthening your store’s defenses, don’t miss our guide on boosting your WooCommerce security and blocking threats effectively.
How to Block or Blacklist Fraud Users in WooCommerce
The plugin provides a simple and efficient way to block problematic Users based on various criteria. Let’s go through the steps to configure this plugin.
Step 1: Install the Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce Plugin
- Download and Install the Plugin: Go to the Blacklister for WooCommerce plugin and purchase the plugin. Once downloaded, you can upload the plugin through your WordPress admin panel by navigating to Plugins > Add New and then selecting Upload Plugin.
- Activate the Plugin: After installation, activate the plugin to start configuring the blacklisting rules.
Step 2: Configure Blacklisting Rules
Once activated, the plugin adds a new menu in the WooCommerce settings where you can specify the criteria to block User. The plugin allows you to block Users based on the following details:
- Customer’s Name and Surname: Block User using their full name or just a part of it.
- Customer’s Address: Block based on the User street, postcode, city, province/state, or country.
- Customer’s Email Address: Block User using specific email addresses or partial matches.
- Customer’s Phone Number: Block based on the full or partial phone number.
- Customer’s IP Address: You can block specific IP addresses or even entire IP ranges.
You can also configure whether the matching should be an exact match or a partial match. The plugin supports regular expressions for all fields except IP addresses. For IP addresses, you can apply IP address masks or IP address ranges.
Step 3: How the Blacklisting Process Works
Once the rules are set, the plugin automatically compares the information provided by the User at checkout with the configured blacklisting rules. If there is a match, the plugin will block the order and stop the checkout process.
A customizable error message will then be displayed to the User, explaining why their order was blocked. This ensures that the User knows the reason for the denial, providing a professional and transparent experience.
Step 4: Customizing Messages
One of the plugin’s most valuable features is the ability to customize the error messages shown to blocked users. Whether you want to explain the reason behind the block or provide Users support contact details, you can create a personalized message to keep the interaction courteous and professional.
Why Choose Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce?
When it comes to protecting your WooCommerce store from unwanted or fraudulent customers, the Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce stands out as a powerful and reliable solution. Here’s why it’s the preferred choice for store owners:
- Advanced Filtering Capabilities: Easily block users using a wide range of criteria including name, email address, phone number, street or billing address, and IP address.
- Pattern-Based Blocking with Regular Expressions: The plugin supports both exact and partial matches, and allows regular expression usage for key fields—helping you catch fraudulent users using common patterns.
- Beginner-Friendly Setup: Designed for ease of use, the plugin can be installed and configured in minutes—even without technical knowledge.
- Customizable Error Messaging: Maintain professionalism by tailoring the message shown to blocked users. This allows you to clearly explain the issue or direct them to support.
- IP Address Masking: Go beyond basic IP blocking with support for full IP ranges and masking, giving you more control over who can access your store.
- Hands-Free Protection: Once activated, the plugin runs in the background—automatically checking each checkout against your rules and blocking users who meet blacklisting conditions.
For international stores, consider pairing it with the Aelia Currency Switcher for WooCommerce, which allows your customers to shop and pay in their local currency—building trust and boosting conversions.