E-commerce

Fraud prevention for E-commerce

We look up the phone line type (mobile, landline or VoIP), the email footprint across platforms and the INE credential against the Lista Nominal. For high-ticket orders, biometrics with liveness through a 24-hour link.

10
INE revocation causes reported separately in the response
≤ 30
points on the risk engine is the low-risk profile threshold
24 h
is how long the biometric verification link stays alive
9
grouped categories of public lists in sanctions screening
Signals per order

Phone and email answer in the same call; biometrics run only above your threshold

The phone answers in the same request with carrier and line type. The email returns its footprint across platforms. Identity verification sends a link that lives 24 hours. Every result lands in the buyer's file.

Biometrics do not resolve inside checkout. The buyer completes them from their phone and the result arrives by webhook.

Where it fits in your operation

Account signup with verified phone and email
High-ticket threshold with biometrics and liveness
Recipient identity on high-value deliveries
Identity evidence to fight a chargeback
Throwaway-account filter: no email footprint, VoIP line
Seller review before their listings go live

The products behind this solution

Phone lookup

Returns carrier and line type: mobile, landline or VoIP. Synchronous, in the same request.

Email lookup

Returns how many platforms that address exists on.

INE + Lista Nominal

OCR of front and back, then a query against the INE registry of active credentials.

Identity verification

Selfie with liveness, matched against the photo on the document. The verdict comes back verified, partial or rejected.

Sanctions screening

Nine grouped categories, all from public sources: sanctions, criminal, PEP, fiscal, adverse media and more.

Risk engine

Aggregates the signals you already ran into a 0-100 score and flags the gaps in the file.

How it works

From signup to the high-ticket order, in four calls.

1
Step 1

Profile the contact

Phone and email at signup. The phone answers in the same request with carrier and line type; the email reports how many platforms it exists on.

Synchronous, same request

2
Step 2

Read the credential

Front and back of the INE card. We OCR the fields and query the Lista Nominal, the INE registry of currently active credentials.

INE registry

3
Step 3

Ask for biometrics

Only above your threshold. You send a tokenised link that lives 24 hours; the buyer uploads document and selfie with liveness from their phone.

24-hour link

4
Step 4

Read the score, decide

The engine folds every signal you ran into a 0-100 score and flags the tools not yet run.

0-100 score

Applicable frame

The rules that apply to an online store.

Selling online does not by itself place you under the CNBV or oblige you to run KYC. Three frames apply: consumer protection, personal data and, depending on what you sell, anti-money-laundering law.

E-commerce
LFPC · Art. 76 bis · DOF 12-12-2025
Vulnerable activities
LFPIORPI · Art. 17
Personal data
LFPDPPP · DOF 20-03-2025
Chargebacks
Brand rules · Circular 3/2012

Singula does not provide legal advice — not in this block and not anywhere else on this page: these references, the points in this block and the FAQ are a starting point, not an opinion. LFPIORPI scope depends on what you sell and on UMA thresholds, and the handling of biometric data deserves its own review. Validate the references with your legal team before designing the flow.

  1. 01

    As a rule, e-commerce has no mandatory KYC

    Unlike a financial institution, selling online does not by itself carry a duty to identify your buyers; the exceptions are the points below. Outside those cases, verifying is a business risk decision.

  2. 02

    LFPIORPI: the exception depends on what you sell

    Jewellery, precious metals and stones, watches, artwork and vehicles are listed as vulnerable activities. Above the UMA-denominated thresholds, identifying the client and filing notices is mandatory. A separate case: issuing your own wallet or stored balance can fall under article 17, section III and, on top of that, require authorisation as an electronic payment funds institution under the Fintech Law.

  3. 03

    Consumer protection

    Mexico's consumer protection law requires online sellers to give truthful information and safeguard buyer data; the December 2025 amendment to article 76 bis added rules on cancelling subscriptions and recurring charges. In a PROFECO complaint, the evidence kept about the purchase forms part of the case file.

  4. 04

    Personal data: purpose, consent and retention

    An ID card and a liveness selfie are personal data. You need a privacy notice, a stated purpose, the data subject's consent and a defined retention period; where sensitive personal data is involved, the LFPDPPP now in force requires express, written consent (article 8). The privacy notice and the consent are the store's responsibility: Singula does not collect them for you, although the flow does record what was queried, when, with what result and — on the identity link — from which device, IP and time.

  5. 05

    On the merchant side, chargebacks run on brand rules

    On the merchant side, the dispute is decided by the card brand rules and your acquirer, using the evidence you file inside their window. On the cardholder side there is a regulated path: Banxico's Circular 3/2012 governs unrecognised charges and CONDUSEF hears claims against the issuing bank. The verification record is available as evidence inside that window.

API REST

One call per signal. You set the threshold.

The phone lookup answers inside the same request. Email, credential and biometrics return a query reference and notify you by webhook. The risk engine later folds everything you ran into a single score.

No mandatory SDK — any language with an HTTP client works
Webhooks signed with HMAC-SHA256, up to 4 delivery attempts
Free sandbox: returns mocks and never touches external providers
ecommerce-checkout.sh
# 1. Lookup de teléfono en el alta. Contesta en la misma llamada.
curl https://api.singula.mx/app/phone-lookup/customer/cus_lzk9m4ab3f \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

→ { "phone": "+525512345678", "valid": true, "country": "MX",
    "carrier": "Telcel", "line_type": "mobile" }

# 2. Pedido arriba de tu umbral: abre la verificación biométrica.
curl -X POST https://api.singula.mx/app/identity-verification/customer/cus_lzk9m4ab3f/create \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

→ { "verification_url": "https://verify.singula.mx/v/tok_9f2ab8",
    "expires_at": "2026-05-02T18:40:11Z" }

// Webhook cuando el comprador termina (documento + selfie + prueba de vida):
{
  "event":        "identity.completed",
  "request_id":   "req_lzk9m4ab3f",
  "verification": {
    "status":        "verified",
    "document_type": "INE",
    "face_result":   { "match_decision": "match", "liveness_decision": "live" },
    "checks": [
      { "check_name": "mrz_check_digits", "passed": true },
      { "check_name": "document_expiry",  "passed": true },
      { "check_name": "age_of_majority",  "passed": true }
    ]
  },
  "device_info": { "ip": "187.190.x.x", "os": "iOS 17.4", "device": "mobile" }
}

Frequently asked questions

As a rule, no: selling online does not by itself carry a duty to identify who buys. The exception is selling categories listed as a vulnerable activity under LFPIORPI — jewellery, precious metals, watches, artwork, vehicles — where above the UMA thresholds you must identify the client and file notices. A separate case: if you issue your own balance, wallet or any stored-value instrument, on top of LFPIORPI (art. 17, sec. III) you may need authorisation as an electronic payment funds institution under the Fintech Law; filing notices does not settle it. Outside that, verifying is a risk decision. None of this is legal advice: confirm the scope with your legal team.

Not on its own. On the merchant side, the dispute is settled by the card brand rules and your acquirer using the evidence you file inside their window; the cardholder, by contrast, does have a regulated path against the issuing bank. Verification leaves evidence you can file: the verdict with face match, liveness, IP, operating system and the timestamp of the device the buyer completed it from.

Yes. Each tool is an independent call. Phone and email run across all traffic; biometrics and credential checks run only above the threshold you define by amount, category or delivery zone.

The phone lookup is synchronous and answers in the same request. Email, INE and biometrics are asynchronous: they return a query reference and notify you by webhook. The buyer completes biometrics from their phone; the link lives 24 hours and the result arrives after purchase.

Yes. The lookup returns the line type — mobile, landline or VoIP — plus carrier and country. The risk engine folds that signal into the 0-100 score together with the rest of the file, such as the email footprint across platforms.

The Lista Nominal query returns the verdict — active, revoked, not found, duplicate or stolen, data mismatch — and, where it applies, the revocation cause from the INE catalogue: death, duplicate, forged documentation, expiry and others. The cause arrives named in the same response.

Run the first query on your checkout

Create the account and run the sandbox against your checkout: it returns sample data and never touches external providers. You set the biometrics threshold by amount, category or delivery zone.