Web merchants fighting costs of credit card fraud

[Kristijntje]

Talk about buyer's remorse: A man who had purchased a $4,500 custom-made engagement ring over the Internet abruptly called off the wedding just days before the big day - then called his credit card company to get his money back.

He succeeded, but not for long. Ice.com, one of the largest jewelers on the Internet, fought the credit card chargeback, correctly arguing its 30-day return guarantee had long since expired. The customer was out the money.

Internet merchants once viewed such chargebacks and other payment fraud as a cost of doing business, mainly because they are difficult and time-consuming to fight. But with fraud sapping hundreds of millions of dollars from online revenues, companies that do all or most of their business over the Internet are increasingly pushing back...

full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryne...357000.htm

[valleygirl]

Internet merchants once viewed such chargebacks and other payment fraud as a cost of doing business

I've always fought every chargeback.

[mandy]

A related article on fighting e-commerce credit card fraud:

Without question, cybercrime is on the rise, and criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated. As global dependence on e-commerce increases, automated fraud screening will continue to be a crucial first line of defense...

Fighting Back

Although the case involving the FBI is not an everyday occurrence, as multi-channel marketing continues its surge, online fraud prevention becomes more and more crucial to any organization.

There are several simple precautions that can minimize fraud significantly with little or no investment:

    * Ensure that you have AVS (Address Verification System) checking that can be done automatically when the order is placed.
    * Screen orders that meet certain criteria for an additional level of verification, and follow this process consistently every day.
    * Pre-authorize credit cards automatically when the order is placed...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/NKzjSvET...raud.xhtml