A scary fact for many businesses and for consumers is this: if a successful instance of credit card fraud is reported, it is likely that the technique will be used again by that scammer. In addition, other hackers may begin to emulate the same routine, targeting vulnerable consumers and aiming to penetrate the e-commerce systems of businesses that accept payments for goods and services over the Internet. In this article, we are going to look at some recent credit card fraud examples for businesses to bear in mind.
The main reason why it is important for companies to be vigilant is due to the fact that their reputations can be on the line if they compromise the financial safety of their loyal customers. When transacting on a website, most people who use credit cards trust that their information will be safe, and that all of the measures in place have been verified. It isn’t in the interests of your business to let your clientele down – and ensuring that you are certified and fully secure will prevent any incidents occurring, as well as a suspension or termination of your e-commerce platform that could lose you revenue.
A common example of credit card fraud that is occurring around the world is where the numbers of normal consumers are stolen and used for purchases for small online businesses. These scammers may decide to create a free email address using a small-scale webmail company in order to make their contact details appear to be more legitimate. From here, the next step is to request that the items they buy are shipped to an address which is different from the address in which the card is registered. This can be where alarm bells start to ring, and as one company didn’t have additional measures to verify whether a shipping address that was different to a billing address was genuine, they had to accept financial accountability for the $500 that was spent illegally by the fraudster. The police and banks were unable to help because of the ‘nominal’ amount of money – despite the fact that such a sum can be significant to small businesses trying to find a market online.
Even though many businesses seem to believe that stolen credit cards are responsible for the bulk of theft cases, this isn’t necessarily true – as in actuality cards which are physically stolen only represent 0.5 per cent of the total amount of fraud cases. The main example of credit card fraud 2010 is for people who do not check their records on a regular basis, meaning that fraudulent activity could be taking place on their account without them knowing. Through registering with identity theft prevention services that notify businesses and consumers when there is an anomalous reading on the credit report, this embarrassing scenario can be prevented.
The same also goes for businesses who may not check their accounts thoroughly with an accounts manager or financial director who is there to verify all expenditure with a fine toothcomb. Some examples of credit card fraud include scammers who try to withdraw small amounts of money or purchase modest items before increasing their fraudulent activity. This gradualist approach can be used to prevent fraud from being noticed.
Interestingly, the cost of preventing fraud actually amounts to triple the value of all of the money stolen from consumers and businesses – showing the importance that all sorts of companies place on staying safe. In this tough economic climate, one of the concerns that some businesses have is keeping their e-commerce platforms secure and verifying payments less expensively, and the cheap but comprehensive database of BIN numbers at BINBase.com can be a good place to start.
Whereas some alternatives for double-checking consumer credentials can be incomplete, withholding vital statistics such as the location of the customer or spelling their locations inaccurately. It is hoped that with many leading banks and brands on board, more information about credit cards can be gained to restrict the potential damage that fraud can have in the international economy. It may take a while, but even just registering as a business could protect you tomorrow against the uncertainty of knowing when ID theft may hit.
