How can I protect my online store from bot attacks?

Topic summary

Issue: A store owner reports a surge in recent days of suspicious orders believed to be from bots that choose COD (cash on delivery) and then cancel, seeking ways to reduce or stop this behavior.

Response: A single reply asserts there’s nothing practical to do, suggesting the activity might be a prank by someone the owner knows rather than bots, and predicts it will stop on its own.

Outcomes/Actions: No concrete mitigation steps, tools, or settings were recommended. No verification of the “prank” claim was provided.

Status: Unresolved. The central question—how to minimize or block COD-related bot/prank orders—remains unanswered, with no consensus or actionable guidance offered.

Summarized with AI on January 5. AI used: gpt-5.

Hello,

From last few days, i am getting orders from Bots they place the order do COD and cancel, it’s really bad, can you help me how to minimize this?

Nothing that you can do about it. I bet is a friend of yours that is making fun or bots as you described. It will stop after a while I bet