Gift Cards – Things Merchants Should Take a Closer Look At
In this day and age, anyone from age 5 to age 100 can find it quite easy to shop online. In the world of online business, millions of dollars change hands every year. Unfortunately, many online merchants get caught by fraudulent accounts and lose a lot of money in the process. Gift Cards that can be used for online shopping are a prime target for criminals as they can be easily obtained and reproduced.
Online gift card fraud accounts for millions of dollars each year. Many merchants however, are getting smarter and finding ways to avoid being caught by such fraudulent transactions. Some of the things that merchants can do to help minimise fraudulent transactions can be found below. Using a BIN database can help prevent card fraud however, it is not quite as useful when it comes to gift cards.
For starters, an online merchant should always consider the possibility that a gift card that is being used to purchase goods could be false. One thing that can help prevent fraud is common sense. Why is an 83 year old man ordering a skate board at 2 o’clock in the morning? This is out of the ordinary behaviour which should not be approved for transaction.
Before approving a transaction, the merchant should always check out the quantity and frequency that a customer is ordering. If a customer has placed 23 orders in the last 12 hours then there is a good chance that this is being with a fraudulent card. This can be harder to pick in the holiday season. Also like in the example above, if that order was for say 37 skateboards, it is likely to be fraudulent and by accepting the transaction you will be digging yourself a large and deep hole.
Difference between the billing and delivery address can often help to weed out the fraudulent accounts also. Criminals will often use a different address for billing and delivery. Also, if the address seems fake, there is a good chance that it is. For example, 123 Wall Street. This type of address is very common among thieves.
International shipment can also be something to watch out for. Particularly if the shipment address is in a developing nation. Local law enforcement is not interested in overseas criminals and developing nations often have high rates of crime, particularly fraud.
There are also many, many more ways and businesses who will help protect you from fraud. Not accepting gift cards is in fact a good idea as criminals will often use such these cards to rip off online businesses. Millions of dollars are stolen every year from online merchants and you should do everything that you can to help prevent this from happening to you.
