Merchants Beware – You Are At risk From Fraudster Using Stolen Credit cards
There is a huge subculture of criminals who are out to rip off online merchants. They even have their own forums which you can find by searching Google for “carders forum” In these forums they buy and sell credit cards by the thousands.
Carders and fraudsters use stolen credit card information primarily to buy goods and services online from unsuspecting merchants. In 2007 the total they stole from websites was $3.6 BILLION. In 2008 the total will be more than 4 billion.
Most people do not realise the following, but it’s dead set true. In a online credit card transaction there are 4 parties. There are the banks, the card company, the card holder and the merchant. The merchant is the ONLY one out of those parties that has any risk in a fraudulent transaction. Not only will the merchant lose the profit and costs for the sale, the card company will also fine the merchant $20. That just adds insult to injury.
One big problem online merchants have is they cannot get the cardholders signature on the order. Without a signature by the cardholder, the merchant is the only party at risk. This is because there is no proof the cardholder authorized the transaction.
Another problem for online merchants is real cardholders who buy goods and services and then later claim they never authorised the transaction. This is a growing problem and one I have found some solutions which you can apply.
Merchants can fight back and prevent fraud if they know what to look for. Most don’t and no one tells them what to look for..that is until now. In my brand new book called “Merchants Beware” I reveal the telltale signs of a fraudster at work. I give merchants an easy step by step approach to detecting fraudsters and stopping them BEFORE they become a problem
Filed under: Small Business