Virtual Payment Systems
Keep your eyes open for the following fraud indicators. When more than two or three is present in a transaction, proceed with caution:
First-Time Shopper:
Criminals are always looking for new victims. Fraudsters like to set up new accounts.
Larger Than Normal Orders:
Because stolen cards or account numbers have a limited life span, crooks need to maximize the size of their purchase.
Orders that Include Several of the Same Item:
Having multiples of the same item increases a criminal's profits and makes it easier to fence goods.
Orders Made Up of “Big-Ticket” Items:
These items have maximum resale value and therefore maximum profit potential.
“Rush” or “Overnight” Shipping:
Crooks want these fraudulently obtained items as soon as possible for the quickest possible resale, and are not concerned about extra delivery charges.
Shipping to an International Address:
A significant number of fraudulent transactions are shipped to fraudulent cardholders outside of the U.S. Visa AVS can't validate non-U.S., except in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Transactions With Similar Account Numbers:
Some fraudsters use numbers generated using software available on the Internet (e.g., CreditMaster).
Shipping to a Single Address, But Transactions Placed on Multiple Cards:
Sometimes it's just splitting the order, but when you see this, it might be someone using a batch of stolen cards.
Multiple Transactions on One Card Over a Very Short Period of Time:
Could be an attempt to "run up" a card until the account is out of money to spend.
Same Card Used to Ship to Many Addresses: Could represent organized activity, rather than one individual at work.
In online transactions, multiple cards used from a single IP (Internet Protocol) address:
More than one or two cards from a single IP address is a strong indicator of fraud.
Orders from Disposable Email Addresses:
These services allow users to create instant, disposable email addresses.