Troubleshooting WooFraudGuard

This article covers the most common issues reported after installing or configuring WooFraudGuard.

All orders score 0 or get “Approve” regardless of settings

Most likely cause: all rule weights are set to 0, or the rules are returning 0 contribution for every order.

• Go to Settings → Rule weights and verify the sliders are not all at 0. Apply the Balanced (default) preset if you are unsure.
• Check whether the orders being placed locally (on a development server) use a loopback IP (127.0.0.1 or ::1). The IP risk rule flags loopback IPs as private, which contributes 30 points, but that may still be below the Review threshold if other rules return 0.

Orders are not appearing in Flagged Orders at all

Most likely cause: WooFraudGuard is inactive, or the scoring hook did not fire.

• Confirm the plugin is active in Plugins → Installed Plugins.
• Confirm WooCommerce is active — WooFraudGuard requires WooCommerce to be running.
• If you use a custom checkout flow, verify it fires the woocommerce_checkout_order_processed or woocommerce_store_api_checkout_order_processed action. Third-party checkout replacements sometimes bypass these hooks.
• Try placing a test order through the standard WooCommerce checkout and check whether it appears in Flagged Orders.

License activation fails

WooFraudGuard contacts the license server at shop.chadacreatives.com during activation. If activation fails:

• Double-check the key was copied in full — it should start with WFG- and contain 19 characters.
• Verify your server can reach https://shop.chadacreatives.com outbound on port 443. Some shared hosting environments block outbound HTTPS. Check your host’s firewall settings or test with wp_remote_get('https://shop.chadacreatives.com') from a mu-plugin.
• Confirm the license has available activation slots. A key can only be active on a limited number of sites simultaneously. Deactivate it on an unused site first (WooFraudGuard → Settings → License → Deactivate).
• Make sure the subscription tied to the license is active (not expired or cancelled).

Plugin updates are not available after license activation

• Go to Dashboard → Updates and click Check again. WordPress caches update information for up to 12 hours.
• Confirm the license status is Active under Settings → License. An expired or inactive license stops update delivery.
• If using the WOOFRAUDGUARD_LICENSE_KEY constant, verify the constant is defined before WordPress loads (i.e., in wp-config.php, not in a plugin or theme file).

The IP risk rule fires on every order (development environment)

On local or staging servers, all orders originate from a private or loopback IP (127.0.0.1, ::1, or a private range like 192.168.x.x). The IP risk rule correctly flags these as private/loopback, contributing ~30 points to every order. This is expected behaviour.

To suppress this during testing, set the IP risk rule weight to 0 under Settings → Rule weights while developing, and restore it before going live.

False positives on legitimate international orders

If customers ordering from abroad are regularly hitting the Hold or Cancel threshold:

• Lower the weight of Address mismatch and BIN country mismatch rules if your store naturally serves international customers.
• Raise the Review and Hold thresholds to give legitimate orders more headroom.
• Use the Re-analyse button on flagged orders after adjusting weights to see what the new score would be without recreating the orders.

Behavioral data not being collected

• Confirm Settings → Privacy & API keys → Enable behavioral data collection is toggled on.
• Confirm your license includes the behavioral_collector feature (Business tier or higher).
• Check that your theme or a caching plugin is not stripping the woofraudguard-checkout JavaScript from the checkout page. Open the checkout in a browser, view source, and search for woofraudguard.

Getting help

If none of the above resolves your issue, open a support ticket with the following information:

• Your WordPress and WooCommerce versions
• Your WooFraudGuard version (visible in Plugins → Installed Plugins)
• Your license key status (active / inactive / tier)
• A description of the order that behaved unexpectedly and its score detail (screenshot of the Score detail modal)