Advanced Fraud Prevention Techniques ... Vishwas Patel, CEO, Avenues

"Verified By Visa" and "MasterCard SecureCode"

"Verified By Visa" will virtually eliminate the instance of charge backs for the reasons of "Transaction Not Authorized" in Visa Internet transactions:

• The cardholder cannot dispute his participation in the transaction.
• Even if the cardholder does dispute his /her participation in the transaction (because his /her card is not enrolled in the Verified By Visa program) the merchant has zero financial liability and the cost of the transaction has to be borne by the bank or financial institution who issued the credit card.
• However disputes, related to quality and or delivery of the merchandise could still result in a charge back if the merchant has not addressed these issues when the customer has raised queries directly or via his credit card issuing bank.

Visa and MasterCard have developed a new online security feature called "Verified by Visa/ SecureCode" that works with existing Visa and MasterCards. With "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard Securecode", consumers can rest assured that using their credit cards on the Web is just as safe as using it at a local merchant around the corner. Additionally, participating merchants too receive protection from fraudulent chargeback activity.

Through the simple "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard SecureCode" checkout processes, Visa Card Issuers confirm the customer’s identity in real time during transactions at participating merchant sites. And, unlike other services that promise online security, with “Verified by Visa” and "MasterCard SecureCode", merchants initiate the authentication process. Shoppers don’t have to load special software or open a digital wallet. So a simple and painless shopping experience is maintained for customers.

How the "Verified By Visa" and "MasterCard Securecode" process works

A cardholder is issued a unique password by Visa that ensures that only you can use your Visa/ MasterCard number to buy online.

The image below represents how the two processes protect online shoppers.

Once the card is activated, your card number will be recognized whenever you purchase at participating online stores. You enter your password in the Verified by Visa or MasterCard Securecode window, to verify your identity. The transaction is then completed. In stores that are not yet participating in "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard Securecode", the Visa / MasterCard card will continue to work as usual.

When the consumer clicks "buy" at checkout, software installed on the merchant server recognizes registered Visa Cards or MasterCard and the Verified by Visa or MasterCard Securecode screen automatically appears in the consumer’s browser. The consumer simply enters his/her password and the password is verified.

Verified by Visa and MasterCard Securecode improve the security of payment transactions in the electronic commerce environment over open networks. They are designed to increase both cardholder and merchant confidence in Internet purchases, as well as to reduce disputes and fraudulent activity related to the use of Visa / MasterCard payments. Benefits of "Verified by Visa" and "MasterCard Securecode" for e-commerce merchants are highlighted below.

Improve Internet Purchases

• Enhance the security and integrity of Internet purchase transactions
• Enable Issuers to authenticate cardholders for Internet commerce
• Support card authentication and other evolving technologies for wider Internet card usage with minimal impact on merchant processes
• Increase the confidence of cardholders in making more online purchases, while reducing fraud exposure for merchants

Reduce Operational Expense

• Reduce operational expense and charge backs related to unauthorized use of credit cards for Internet purchases.
• Link authentications with authorization and settlement transactions to ensure Internet transaction data integrity
• Streamline dispute resolution processes through the use of automated tools to prevent invalid exception items.
• Participating merchants receive added protection from fraudulent charge back activity.

Security Process benefits

• 70% of e-commerce charge backs are "cardholder unauthorized" due to cardholders saying "I didn’t do it." VBV/Securecode gives you a way to reduce charge back and fraud costs.
• 70% of consumers surveyed say they are concerned with security and fraud issues. VBV / Securecode gives them more confidence.
• 73% say that enhanced security would influence their decision to purchase online. VBV/ Securecode encourages online shopping.
• 61% are concerned that their credit card number will be intercepted by "hackers." Accepting cards from other countries will be easier and less risky; VBV/ Securecode helps you move into new markets.

Reverse Telephone And IP Verification

Since real time Address Verification Service is not possible anywhere in the world except U.S.A., I advise all Internet Merchants to carryout a virtual AVS wherein you can feed in the telephone number provided in the billing address and can get the address and the name of the person who has placed the order. You can check out this link for all the US customer telephone nos. http://www.reversephonedirectory.com & for other countries of the world, click on this link:- http://www.teldir.com.

If you are still not able to find an appropriate link to conduct a reverse "Look Up" of an order you have received, I advise you to go to http://www.google.com and search for your specific query. I am sure you will get dozens of resourceful links.

Many frauds occur from IP (Internet Protocol) addresses that are not valid or are not what you think they are. http://www.amnesi.com/hostinfo/ipinfo.jhtml can help check the IP address of a particular order.

Zip Code Mapping

Often you will discover certain zip codes produce fraud rates significantly different than your norms. Keep in mind that professional criminals are aware of this fraud prevention technique and will often offer address information that attempts to bypass this. So it is equally important to check whether the zipcode of the order you are shipping the goods is a genuine or not. Please check this link to get the correct and accurate information about the zip code of a particular order. http://www.mailerssoftware.com/lookups/ZipCityPhone.asp

Fraud Reviews

If fraud starts to become a problem for your business, someone should be assigned the task of reviewing fraudulent transactions with the goal of identifying where the criminals are slipping through the cracks. Criminals do nothing but think of ways to get one up on you and if you are the target, you should commit at least an equal level of resources at stopping them.

Summary

Every merchant has to worry about online credit card fraud. Some merchants sell high value items and can tolerate few losses while other merchants may sell items like downloadable software that costs the merchant nothing in the event of fraud but may result in the termination of their merchant account with us if they incur too many fraudulent transactions. One of the most important factors in controlling fraud is to understand the customer and implementing security measures. The better you get at understanding your customers, the better you will become at identifying and controlling fraud.