Rafael Lourenco
As a retailer, eCommerce is something you can’t escape, nor should you want to. While 94% of retail sales still take place in a brick and mortar store, eCommerce is gaining fast, and expected to increase by 17% annually. With $294 billion in sales, eCommerce is a sales channel that it’s would be foolish to ignore.
But eCommerce comes with risks. Specifically, since most transactions are completed with a credit card, fraud is a danger online merchants must be ready for. In 2016, eCommerce retailers lost nearly $7 billion to fraud.
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s critical that retailers with online storefronts know the warning signs of card fraud with an eCommerce transaction.
Individually, these warning signs may be innocuous. A declined transaction is not an immediate sign of fraud, for instance, and treating it as such puts you in danger of driving away valid – and paying – customers. But these red flags do still represent warning signs that may warrant further analysis of the transaction to prevent what could end up being significant losses.
6 Red Flags of Online Credit Card Fraud
First-time shoppers
New customers are the golden ring for all retailers. But when it comes to credit card fraud, they can also be the harbinger of bad news.
Criminals are constantly looking for new sites to buy from, hoping that the merchant won’t notice their unusual purchasing behavior. Also, if they have never purchased from you before, there is no way for you to have a record of them from previous bad transactions.
Address inconsistencies
There are a lot of combinations of bad addresses that can signal caution is needed.
International shipping in general, but particularly if the billing address of the credit card is in the U.S., should warrant an additional look at the transaction.
Phone number area codes and zip codes should match the billing address.
If you notice multiple cards being used to purchase items sent to the same address, take the time to check into the transaction further.
The reverse is true as well. If you have multiple purchases with the same billing address, but multiple shipping addresses, that could signal organized criminal activity that is coming from a single place.
Rush or Overnight shipping
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