There is virtually no substitute for Ecommerce payments. Consumers want the convenience of paying for goods and services without leaving their home. Online sales in the United States are expected to reach $523 billion in the next five years, up 56% from $335 billion in 2015, and mobile devices are expected to be a key driver in that growth, Forrester Research Inc. says. And for non-profit and faith-based organizations, donations online are the preferred method of payment – particularly in times of crisis.

As a result of this exponential growth, Ecommerce payment transactions have become a huge target for fraudsters. Unfortunately, the signs that someone is trying to use a stolen credit card or make a fraudulent transaction are not always easy to spot. Below are some best practices to incorporate as part of your company’s fraud protection plan.

Retail & Ecommerce Fraud Prevention & Protection

  1. Do not process suspect transactions. If you think a transaction might be fraudulent, do not proceed with the order until you are comfortable.
  2. Do not assume that because a transaction is approved that it is not fraudulent. When a card-issuing bank issues an approval code, this only means that there are funds available on the card and that the account is open
  3. Passing the Address Verification System does not mean the transaction is not fraudulent. When running a card-not-present transaction, always make sure to run AVS (address verification system) – but keep in mind that AVS does not work outside of the United States, and that many times, credit card thieves have correct address information.
  4. Use the CVM (3-digit code on the back of card, or 4-digit code on the front for American Express) when running card-not-present transactions. Credit card thieves are less likely to have this data.
  5. Keep records of previous fraud attempts on your business. Record the email address, the IP address, and all other aspects of the fraudulent order. Many times, credit card thieves will go back to the same business. If they are ever successful, having these records will be useful to law enforcement should you choose to report the incident.

Click here to see a list of red flags that may signify fraud.

As the world continues to becoming increasingly digital, taking steps to prevent online fraud, as well as in person fraud, is becoming increasingly more important. If you follow these steps and react quickly when you suspect fraud, you can help limit the effects of payment fraud on your business.

Check out our resources to learn more about how Bluefin can help protect your data with our security solutions for Point of Sale Systems and for Ecommerce Payment Processing, including PCI-validated Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE), Tokenization, and iFrame Encryption.