With the E-commerce market growing so rapidly, fraud is becoming a great concern to everyone involved. Our guest blog is from SagePay who have created a brilliant whitepaper. We have highlighted the main points below. To read the full white paper, please click on the link. SagePay ‘Everything You Need To Know About Fraud’ Whitepaper_June 2014.
1. Know your Fraud Tools
The first steps to reducing the risk of fraud is setting up the correct fraud screening tools on your account. Most payment service providers will provide you with a basic level of fraud protection, however fraud screening tools range from basic to advanced.
- Basic – eg. AVS – where a system checks the numerics in the billing address of the card against which the card is registered.
- Advanced – More complicated bespoke tools, which work with a third party that runs background checks on card data supplied by many sources. There is the capability to flag up if a delivery address has been used in previous fraudulent activities.
Remember – the more detail you can gather about a customer or purchase, the safer you are.
2. Protect your Data
The Payment Card Industry Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure all companies that process, store or transmit card information maintain a secure environment.
Although these are not legal obligations, this does not mean they can be ignored. Again download SagePay’s full white paper for more in-depth details.
3. Check Telephone Numbers and Delivery Address
Also check the area code matches up.
4. Be wary of Low Cost transactions followed by High Value ones
Internet criminals like to test the waters with a low cost transaction before becoming more ambitious. Be extra vigilant around your busiest times as these are the key moments to strike.
5. High-Risk Countries
Watch out for high-risk countries. The expansion of e-commerce now means these countries are within grasp.
6. Be wary of Temporary Email Addresses
Make sure the email address is valid.
7. Go with your Gut
If you are still suspicious even after everything has checked out, send goods by registered post so a signature will be required upon delivery. This eliminates the issue of non-delivery claims.
8. Tell the World about your Security
- Advertise the fact that you are a secure site on your website.
- Put up a security policy, with details of how you manage payments and card security, as well as your policies for data security.
Ignore security measures at your peril! To do so could result in anything from a fraudster obtaining sensitive details, to a full-scale data breach.
Don’t forget – trading online gives you a little more to think about – you can find experts in all areas of ecommerce – speak to them and find out what you need to know – it will pay dividends in the long run.
