Square Online is getting hammered by bots, Blocking cards, emails & IPs isn’t working;
I've been using Square for over 10 years, and I’m seriously considering other alternatives because of a problem I can’t seem to get anyone at Square to actually address.
Our Square Online ordering system is being repeatedly hit with what appears to be automated/bot activity. They’re making frivolous order attempts that are clogging up our online ordering system and creating a headache for our staff.
The weird part is that Square is often blocking the payments, so the fraud system is clearly recognizing the activity as suspicious. But the bots are still getting through to the online ordering system and repeatedly generating order attempts.
I’ve gone through Square Support, Risk Management, Square Online, back to Square Support.
Today alone, I spent well over an hour on chat with Square Support and was transferred multiple times. I kept getting passed from one department to another, only to end up back where I started.
* I was also informed that I am not the only Square user being affected by this issue.*
I’ve created around 11 Risk Manager rules.
I’ve tried blocking:
- Credit card numbers
- Email addresses
- IP addresses
It has not helped in the slightest. The activity keeps coming.
I contacted KDS too. They told me there isn’t anything they can do from their side other than us turning off online ordering. Their engineers were going to contact Square about it.
Turning off online ordering isn’t a solution for a restaurant.
What I’m trying to figure out is whether this is a Square-specific problem or a common problem with restaurant online ordering platforms.
Has anyone else dealt with bots repeatedly hitting their Square Online ordering page?
If you have, were you ever able to get Square to actually stop the bot traffic?
I’m particularly interested in whether anyone has found a solution involving bot protection, CAPTCHA, rate limiting, device fingerprinting, IP blocking, or anything that actually prevents the automated requests from reaching checkout.
At this point, blocking individual cards, emails and IP addresses isn’t doing anything.
I’ve been loyal to Square for over 10 years, but I’m now seriously looking at other POS/online ordering systems because I can’t keep spending time fighting this problem while being bounced between Square departments. I'm told there is nothing they or I can do aside from creating rules through risk management. The CS at Square isn't what it used to be.
I’d really appreciate hearing from other restaurant owners who have dealt with this.
