Ten Anti-Fraud Tips For Online Vendors
Unfortunately, online payment remains a major area of Internet immaturity. Payment and data transfer security are allied problems. When buyer and seller meet physically to exchange money for goods, trust is less of an issue than when two entities deal blind online. Though buyers - rightly - distrust online credit card payments, merchants suffer more from credit fraud. This is because most online payment is by credit or debit cards, and the payment protocols for these were originally intended for face to face sales where the cardholder and card are both physically present.
1. Even though it might be a hassle, insist on a mailing address and phone number of the buyer and then check them out to ensure they aren't fake.
2. Insist on a faxed customer signature and a faxed photocopy of the credit card.
3. If you can't contact the buyer by phone or the phone number is unreachable, then don't process the order
4. Use Address Verification services where they're available
5. Be extremely wary of shipping overseas - it can be hard to pursue claims abroad. Eastern Europe is seen by many as a high risk area.
6. Check the email address against the name on the credit card. If the real name doesn't match the email name then you definitely want more reassurance before processing the order.
7. Refuse to process orders from free email domains unless you have incontrovertible proof of the buyer's identity.
8. Never ship products to postal box numbers. Always insist on a physical shipping address.
9. Check the DNS table of the remote IP of the customer. Find out the remote server's geographic area and check it against the address of the customer. Few people connect to the Net using a long distance call. You also need to check the mailing address, phone number and email address of the server, though thieves can also set up servers too.
10. Be especially careful of those wanting higher priced fast delivery or otherwise being price insensitive. Thieves don't care how much it costs as they don't plan to pay.
When buyer and seller meet physically to exchange money for goods, trust is less of an issue.