MERCHANT SERVICES FRAUD

Any orders significantly higher than your average transaction should be considered suspicious. Criminals with a stolen card number only have a limited time frame before the theft is discovered, so they often try to buy as much as they can in one shot.

If you receive an order that has a lot of the same item but in different colors or sizes, proceed with caution.

Again, because of that limited window of opportunity, crooks often go for the items with the biggest resale earning potential. It’s a tip-off whenever multiple different orders are somehow linked.

It’s a sloppy tactic, but not uncommon. Multiple orders with mismatched payment information could signify a thief trying to use a collection of stolen cards while they’re still active.

Some criminals have been known to share card numbers with friends, or order items for them. This is an especially popular ploy during the holidays, when merchants expect regular cardholders to buy gifts and ship them to others.

A thief might have scraped a list of credit card accounts and placed orders on each card in rapid succession.

Orders with two different cards originating from the same IP address could be normal activity. Any more than that—especially several orders around the same time—should be considered suspicious, though.

If a buyer wants to use several different payment cards on one large order, that may be an indicator of “card testing.” A fraudster might be using the order to find which card numbers will be approved.

When an order is flagged as potential fraud and declined, the thief may quickly attempt to purchase something else that costs less. This is another form of card testing, by which the merchant tries to identify the limit and available balance of the account.

Most card-not-present purchases require the credit card expiration date. If the date entered first is wrong—and the customer tries again with a new one—there’s a chance the buyer doesn’t have access to the physical card and is trying to guess the expiration.

Customers who have trouble supplying personal information on phone orders may not be the cardholder at all. A real customer shouldn’t find it difficult to provide personal details, like the billing and shipping address.

Everyone makes mistakes, but too many oddities on one order may be cause for concern. It could be indicative of offshore fraudsters who do not use English as a first language.

Some customers repeatedly request updates about the shipping process or seem overly concerned about shipping. This could be because the individual is worried the products won’t leave your warehouse before a fraud attack is detected.

The criminal doesn’t care about the extra expense of rush shipping. Fraudsters’ only goal is to get the deal done quickly; after all, it’s not their money they are spending.

Fraudsters know that it’s nearly impossible to be caught and/or prosecuted from outside the US, so double-check international orders for any other fraud red flags, and be aware of countries that are fraud origin hot spots.

As fraudsters get wise to detection techniques, they look for ways around them. In-store pickup means the merchant can’t check for red flags associated with different shipping and billing addresses.

Most customers are careful about big-ticket purchases, inquiring about return or exchange policies, warranties, rebates, and the like. Fraudsters typically don’t care, so they’re not likely to ask any questions that might give them away.

Customers can order through a deaf relay system without using their own voice. This could be twisted for fraudulent purposes; for example, a man placing an order on a card identified with a woman’s name. Be overly cautious, requesting additional personal information to prove legitimacy.

Fraudsters are trying to place the order and get off the phone quickly. So, when the order-taker starts asking for specifics about the item, criminals are more likely to have a “Yeah, whatever” attitude, just to speed up the process.