| Every year, fraudulent credit card purchases cost | | | | 5. Check the IP address of the customer placing the |
| online retailers millions of dollars. Without the benefit of | | | | order to determine their location. Be wary of |
| scrutinizing a customer and requesting additional | | | | international payments that originate from "high-risk" |
| identification in person, it can be more difficult to | | | | countries or areas that are known for their high-rate of |
| properly identify fraudulent charges made online. | | | | fraud, including Nigeria, Turkey, Lithuania, and Russia. |
| However, with a little extra time and effort, online | | | | 6. Scammers will often use untraceable email |
| merchants can significantly minimize their risk to fraud | | | | addresses originating from free web-based services. |
| using the following strategies. | | | | Ask the customer to provide an ISP or domain-based |
| 1. If the shipping address doesn't match the billing | | | | email address that can be traced to their location. |
| address, call the customer directly to confirm the order, | | | | 7. Use the Address Verification Service (provided by |
| especially if the listed shipping address is out of the | | | | most payment processors) which ensures the |
| country. | | | | information provided by a customer matches the |
| 2. Always require a valid phone number on orders and | | | | information the bank that issued the card has. Many |
| ensure the area code of the number matches that of | | | | payment gateways also have a variety of other fraud |
| the billing address. Consider calling the customer to | | | | prevention tools you can use to minimize your risk. |
| confirm the number. | | | | 8. When in doubt, call the customer and request the |
| 3. Be suspicious of atypical orders, such as unusually | | | | customer fax a copy of the driver's license or |
| large orders or orders for an exceptionally high amount | | | | passport to authenticate their identity. |
| of the same item. If an order seems suspicious, | | | | 9. Make your anti-fraud policy clearly visible on your |
| conduct a little more research to determine whether or | | | | website and warn potential fraudsters that they will be |
| not the order is fraud. | | | | pursued to the fullest extent of the law if the place |
| 4. Other transactions to be wary of include orders | | | | fraudulent orders through your website. |
| purchased using multiple credit cards but shipped to | | | | 10. You can also call the issuing bank prior to |
| one address. Or multiple orders made with the same | | | | authorizing the order. |
| credit card within a short period of time. | | | | |