Considering the current climate, protecting your merchant account is priority No. 1 when you rely on online credit card processing. Taking all the necessary precautions to prevent fraud – fighting chargebacks, examining transactions, clear return policy and billing descriptor – is the least a merchant can do.
Fraud hits all e-commerce merchants. We recommend fighting back.
We can hear the chatter: You don’t have time. It’s too much work. Fraudsters are impossible to catch. Does anyone ever get caught? The truth is yes. We feel, however, that not enough e-commerce merchants are fighting back, largely due to the aforementioned skepticism. Thus, we’re offering ways to protect your merchant account and prosecute the bad guys.
Why you should be going after criminals
It is said in the sport of golf, once a player hits the perfect approach they’re hooked on the sport for life. In attending the recent Kount webinar, How to Catch a Fraudster, catching and apprehending your first criminal is a similar feeling, said an expert panel. For merchants who depend on online credit card processing, it’s not as hard as they might think.
Additionally, online fraudsters predominantly (perhaps erroneously) feel they will never get caught. The presiding feeling is that what goes unseen will go unprosecuted; that law enforcement has more serious crimes to investigate, which is largely untrue.
The seminar included Skip Myers, the Director of Loss Prevention at Microcenter; Don Bush, Vice President of Marketing at Kount; and Chad Evans, Manager of E-Commerce Investigations at PetSmart.
And they had plenty of stories to tell.
Examine your digital crime scene
Most fraudsters are clever and cunning, but not infallible. Surprisingly, a significant population enjoy talking, tweeting and posting about their stolen wares. According to the webinar, there is such thing as a digital crime scene where criminals leave clues:
- Similar structured e-mails: Criminals are too smart to use the same e-mail address each time they strike. But they often use similar ones with a pattern within the address, perhaps verbiage consistent with a nationality or country.
- Check the ‘ship to’ address: This is where geolocation tools such as Google Earth or Google Maps are invaluable. Fraudsters always exploit the ‘ship to’ address, often using storage facilities to receive their ill-gotten goods. They may attempt to use a P.O. box or package drop center, such as a UPS store. Criminals are also known for using addresses from real estate websites from vacant residences.
- Same IP address, different card brands: The fraudster is obviously using stolen credit cards and attempting to purchase from the same device.
- A simple google search of a name: If a transaction appears suspect, a simple Google search of a consumer’s name could be very telling. Maintaining details consistent with the crime are pivotal pieces of evidence, such as news clips of crimes and whether they have spent time in prison.
The more evidence a merchant can compile and present, the more effective his/her case will be, prompting law enforcement to take it very seriously.
Merchants need to share their stories
Instabill has a reseller program in which competing payment service providers who cannot get online credit card processing for an industry come to us. In turn, we find a bank willing to offer a solution while we split the revenue with the merchant.
In dealing with online fraud, merchants should take a similar approach by collaborating and sharing their stories with other merchants in an e-commerce forum such as Reddit or LinkedIn.
Online credit card processing with Instabill
With an online credit card processing account with Instabill, we not only match your business with the best domestic or offshore banks with which we’re partnered, we’ll assist in any way in the fight against online criminals.
Have a conversation with one of our high risk merchant account experts at 1-800-530-2444 to discuss your possibilities.
