How to Stop Fake Account Creation in Magento 2?

In today’s digital world, having a Magento e-commerce store that runs smoothly and efficiently to capture orders is crucial. As your store grows, your customers grow as well, and you see an increase in customer accounts. At the same time, growing sites are often targeted by spammers. Spammers start creating fake accounts in your store using fake emails and names.

Restricting fake account creation in Magento 2 helps store owners maintain a clutter-free database and avoid unwanted traffic.

In this post, you will learn how you can restrict your Magento 2 store from fake users, and how this will help you manage an authenticated customer base in your store.

Why Restrict Fake Registration in Magento 2?

Here are a few reasons to help you understand why it is important to restrict fake account registration in Magento 2:

• Saves server bandwidth by preventing fake calls made by spammers without any intention to purchase.
• Keeps your customer base clutter-free and authenticated.
• Reduces the need to manually identify and delete fake accounts.

Methods to Restrict Fake Registration in Magento 2

In this section, we will discuss different methods to stop fake account creation in Magento 2. By implementing these methods in your store, you can ensure only genuine customers get registered.

1. Implement Google reCAPTCHA

Magento 2 provides out-of-the-box support for Google reCAPTCHA. reCAPTCHA helps identify real humans and prevents bots from submitting forms, protecting your customer registration form. Google reCAPTCHA is configured from your Magento 2 admin panel.

Steps to enable Google reCAPTCHA for Customer Registration in Magento 2:

• Go to Admin Panel → Stores → Settings → Configuration.

• Under Security, click Google reCAPTCHA.

• Choose the type of reCAPTCHA you want to use (reCAPTCHA v2, Invisible reCAPTCHA, or reCAPTCHA v3).

• Enter the Site Key and Secret Key generated from your Google reCAPTCHA account.

• Scroll to the Frontend Forms section and enable reCAPTCHA for Customer Create Account.

• Save the configuration and clear the cache.

Now, your Magento 2 store will verify real users during registration, blocking most automated bots.

2. Block Registration Page for Specific Countries

From your Google Analytics account, you can identify which countries are accessing your registration page. If you’re not doing business in certain regions, you can block those countries from visiting using Cloudflare’s Firewall Rules.

Steps to block specific pages from being accessed by particular countries:

• Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard and select your site.

• Navigate to the Firewall → Firewall Rules section.

• Click Create a Firewall Rule.

• Under “When incoming requests match…”, add two conditions:

  • URI Path equals /customer/account/create/ (or your registration URL).

  • Country is in [select desired country or countries].

• Under Then, select Block (or Challenge, if you prefer to test human intent).

• Save and deploy the rule.

This ensures that visitors from specified countries are prevented from accessing your registration page, while others remain unaffected.

3. Implement OTP Verification in Your Registration Form

A one-time password (OTP) is a proven method to ensure only verified customers register on your site. By implementing OTP, you make sure customers register with a valid email because they must enter the OTP received in their inbox.

Magento 2 doesn’t include OTP verification out of the box. However, you can install a reputable third-party extension. For example, the Email Confirmation via OTP Magento 2 Extension is a ready-to-use solution.

This extra security step ensures that each new account is validated through a confirmed email or mobile channel, significantly reducing the risk of fake registrations.

4. Enable Email Confirmation for Registration

Email confirmation is another effective way to prevent the use of fake emails during customer registration. Magento 2 provides this feature out of the box. Once you enable email confirmation, users will receive a confirmation link in their email.

Only after clicking that link does the customer account become active in Magento 2. Until then, the customer remains disabled and cannot log in.

Steps to enable Email Confirmation for new customers in Magento 2:

• Go to Admin Panel → Stores → Configuration.

• Under Customers, select Customer Configuration.

• Expand the Create New Account Options section.

• Set Require Emails Confirmation to Yes.

• Choose the Confirmation Link Email Sender (e.g., General Contact).

• Save the configuration and clear the cache.

Now, all new customer accounts must verify their email before being activated.

5. Block Specific Email Domains, Name Patterns, and IPs

The above methods are useful in blocking spam registrations in your Magento 2 store, but they do not guarantee complete protection. For example:

• Even advanced bots may bypass reCAPTCHA.

• Spammers may adapt by using your core business region.

• Attackers may use disposable emails to bypass OTPs.

• Email confirmation may frustrate genuine users with added friction.

To strengthen your defenses, you can block suspicious email domains, name patterns, and IP addresses.

Magento 2 Restrict Fake Registration Extension

MageArmy’s Magento 2 Restrict Fake Registration Extension helps you prevent spam email domains, suspicious names, and spam IPs in Magento 2.

With this extension, you can:

• Block disposable or fake email domains.

• Restrict account creation using suspicious name patterns.

• Prevent spam sign-ups from specific IP addresses.

• Maintain a clean, authenticated customer database.

By following these methods, Google reCAPTCHA, country-specific blocking, OTP verification, email confirmation, and advanced email domain/name/IP blocking using MageArmy’s Magento 2 Restrict Fake Registration Extension, you can safeguard your Magento 2 store from fake registrations, conserve resources, and ensure a genuine customer base.