Intro
Online fraud happens whenever stolen credit card info is used to make purchases on online stores. Merchants will only realize there has been a fraudulent transaction when they get hit with a chargeback request by the real owner of the credit card.
Why is online fraud so prevalent?
The higher the value of the goods being sold on an online store, the more enticing it will be for fraudsters to try their luck at getting the goods via nefarious means. Goods that are of high market value can be resold for a slightly lower price on other websites. The easy and quick disposal of such ill-gotten gains means the criminals involved can get rich without much effort.
Another factor is the ease in which fraudsters can obtain stolen credit card info. Places such as the dark web are filled with peddlers of stolen data. The card data are usually extracted from big websites that have suffered data breaches by hackers. The prices of the stolen card info are quite cheap, meaning the buyer can obtain info for hundreds or thousands of cards to buy goods illegally.
Aren’t the authorities doing anything?
In most cases, the value of the items being purchased is too small to justify a full-scale investigation. The criminals using the stolen card info also often employ proxy servers when making purchases. This makes it challenging for the authorities to track their online trail.
Another tactic the fraudsters will use is to send the purchased items to a freight forwarding service or P.O. box. Doing so adds another layer of anonymity to their identity. It’s not impossible to track them but it is just not worth the money and effort spent.
FraudLabs Pro can protect online merchants
If you have your own online store, you need to protect yourself from online fraud. Prevention is definitely a lot better than a cure (if there is one) when it comes to credit card fraud online.
FraudLabs Pro provides APIs and ready-made plugins to help online merchants get protected quickly and easily. Features such as blacklists from the FraudLabs Pro merchant network, detection of proxies, customizable fraud detection rules and geolocation makes it easy to block most fraud attempts.
Best of all, there is a free plan for 500 order screenings per month to get you started. There is no reason to refuse free protection to prevent fraud.