Continuing the topic of fraud from the previous blog post, we are covering additional safeguards for online merchant accounts that are useful in protecting against fraudulent consumers. These measures are even more important during the holidays when merchant accounts are at higher risk, especially with people looking to cash in on cyber deals.

4 Tips to Get Started

Use Extra Care with International Orders:
Anything being shipped to an international address should be double checked, especially if it’s from a high fraud country. According to a ClearCommerce survey, there are 12 countries that are considered high-risk, a few being Egypt, Turkey and Malaysia. Their research showed that although sales outside of the United States only represented 17% of the sample study, they accounted for over 42% of all fraudulent orders. Some merchants I know that take international orders will have the cardholder fax or email them a copy of their ID and credit card so they know they are dealing with the cardholder and they have the physical card on their person.

Double Check Country IP Address Against Billing Address:
This can be managed using an address verification system (AVS), mentioned in the previous blog post.

Check for Anonymous Proxy Servers:
A consumer using a stolen credit card may be able to hide their actual IP address by using a proxy server. Proxy servers allow people to browse the Web anonymously, and due to the fact these addresses change frequently, they can be hard to detect consistently.

If you feel your internet merchant accounts may be at high risk from this type of shopper, it’s important to employ strong IP and server detection technology. This technology will help you avoid the guessing game when reviewing orders, and ensure the anonymous proxy server list is automatically updated.

Always Send a Confirm Email:
Use an auto-generated email to confirm a sale and test the validity of an email address, as well as to verify the details of the card holder’s order. Be sure to keep track of order decline rates, especially if they are declined by the card issuer or because its considered to be a fraudulent international order. If the merchandise was back-ordered and has to ship more than seven days after initial authorization, be sure to obtain a secondary authorization.