Pre-Paid Cards – Things Merchants Should Take a Closer Look At
Shopping online is a common place activity in many of the world’s countries and millions of dollars change hands through online business every year.
These days, nearly anyone can shop online with the creation of such things as pre-paid cards. Unfortunately though, there are many criminal organisations that create false cards and use these to purchase goods through the internet.
It is said that this practise is a victimless crime because people who get ripped off by these crimes will usually be reimbursed. However online merchants do not receive this reimbursement and often end up losing out big time. Many online merchants are familiar with card fraud and have taken measures to prevent such things from biting them, however extra steps can be taken.
The use of a BIN database is a great start for a merchant to protect themselves from fraud. A database like this can help to weed out the false cards from the real cards and lower a merchants risk significantly. Pre-paid cards are well known as one of the major sources of card fraud and are very easy for criminal organisations to get their hands on.
Online Merchants should always consider the possibility that a prepaid card is false and take measures to prevent being ripped off.
A common thing among thieves is to have the goods shipped to a different address to the billing address. This is one of the first details a merchant should check as this is common practise amongst criminals.
Another thing that merchants should be checking for, before approving a transaction, is the quantity and frequency that someone orders. An order of a few dozen of the same product should arouse suspicion if this is abnormal for this item. Criminals often order in large quantities. Multiple orders in a small timeframe can also be considered suspicious. If a customer places 32 orders in 24 hours for example, you may have a very good reason to decline the transaction.
Something else to take note of is whether the customer has a free email address. Free email addresses are popular among criminals as it is very easy to set-up a false account. You may want to think twice before selling to a free email address, depending on what it is that you are selling. I have come across a number of online merchants who simply will not accept a free email account.
Millions of dollars are stolen every year as a result of prepaid card fraud. As an online merchant, it is very important to protect oneself against fraud and staying away from pre-paid cards can be a great way to eliminate potential fraud before it catches you and costs you a fortune.
