Online Retail Fraud: Addressing Key Issues

E-commerce sales are projected to surpass 20% of all retail sales by 2023. While E-commerce continues to grow so are fraudster’s methods as consumer fraud reached over $3.3 billion in 2020 alone. From simply making purchases with a stolen card to fabricating an ID, it’s important that online retailers are aware of the types of online retail fraud causing problems, as well as how criminals steal information.  

How They Do It  

Credit Card Data Sales

One of the most common problems in online retail fraud happens on the dark web where fraudsters can buy credit cards for little to no cost at all. In fact, stolen credit card data can be sold for just $0.50, while a full credit card number with a PIN will sell for as little as $35!  

After a data breach has happened, credit cards can end up on the dark web quickly. And their price point is determined by how long a card has been on the web. “Fresh” cards that go up right after a breach go for more as the victim probably hasn’t realized their card info has been stolen. The longer a card has been on the web, the lower the price.  

Phishing

Phishing attacks can be thought of as account takeovers. Fraudsters encourage victims to trust a phony source or contact, then they steal identity and cardholder information.

A phishing scheme must first fool users into submitting sensitive information for criminals to later make use of. Often, botnets (networks composed of malware-infected computers) are used to run phishing scams for a larger pool of victims. These fraudsters also target websites that have little to no security, making it easy to obtain information.

Phishing attacks commonly occur via email, social media, and private messaging platforms. Attackers solicit sensitive information from customers by impersonating a legitimate organization, then use said intel to gain access to personal accounts. Once they are in, they will document more personal information, use financials directly or convince platform management to grant them additional access as needed.

Imprinting

Imprints are created by the indentation of the credit card information onto carbonless forms in card-present transactions. Both the seller and the customer usually get copies of this imprint. It becomes a fraud risk to consumers when these forms are mishandled and end up in the wrong hands.

Stolen and Counterfeit Cards

One of the most common ways fraud happens is having a card physically stolen and then used directly. However, many fraudsters swipe cards from the mail before they even get to their owners, which leaves these individuals vulnerable to a tremendous amount of fraud as they might not even realize it’s happened until way after the act.

Counterfeit cards pose a threat as many of them have legitimate card numbers, however, the magnetic stripe on the back won’t match up.

Better Process

Many merchants make the mistake of only validating only the credit card rather than the individual making the purchase. They’ll only ask for the 3-4 digit security code and validate the expiration date. Anyone can get access to real credit card numbers. Validating the driver’s license of the person presenting making the purchase is an important step to preventing chargebacks and other fraud, and with the right software, takes less than a second.

Preventing Fraud Before it Happens

Identity verification software helps weed out fraudulent users without causing too much friction for legitimate customers. Intellicheck is here to help to verify a user’s identity with 99% accuracy so you can protect your business and your customers.

Making sure that both the card and user ID are verified and legitimate is important. We will scan the ID, and, if needed, run a facial match with liveness checking so you can match the ID to the person presenting it with certainty. Intellicheck makes that easy and fast, with sub-second results. Our 99.9% accuracy keeps the bad guys out and let’s the good guys in.

Talk to us, and see it in action.