Merchants must always guard against fraud, and they must go that extra mile to fight against it during the holidays. The holidays are when criminals get their fiercest when it comes to thievery. Having said that, the following includes several ways of how to avoid chargebacks and fraudulent charges this holiday season:
Verify the Identity of the Cardholder
The number one cause for chargeback is stolen credit cards, which accounts for 30% of these instances, according to ClearSale. So, you should verify the identity of the cardholder by checking the photo ID for each purchase. Also, getting the signatures and verifying them by comparing them with the signatures on the credit cards is another layer of protection.
Examine Fraud Prevention Procedures
You must have a documented plan for fraud prevention. These details must be implemented in your procedures, systems, and so forth. This plan should cover how to mitigate fraud and what to do if fraud happens. So, look over this plan again to improve and reinforce fraud prevention measures.
Know Your Specifications
These sort of criminals go to where they feel they can succeed. So, review your historical transaction data of the holidays to become aware of your regular holiday numbers for declining rates and chargebacks. You should also successfully check and prevent fraud by product, channel, transaction, and payment type.
Remain Consistent
Consistency would show weaknesses and anomalies. So, if your team follows the same procedures for each transaction, then something non-standard and unexpected would stand out. And despite holiday chaos, good training ensures standardized practices.
Hire More Staff in Call Centers and Store Locations
Along with properly trained employees who can identify, mitigate, and escalate fraud attempts, you should increase staffing. This way, you can make sure your team would obtain proper rest, so they can be alert and catch fraudsters online, in the store, on the phone, etc.
Embody Technology.
Keep abreast of fraud trends and patterns. Your business, for instance, maybe susceptible to account takeover or package rerouting based on outdated ordering protocols or customer service. However, utilizing the latest technologies, including the capability of the machine recognizing data associated with fraud patterns, is key to keeping fraudsters at bay.
Employ Several Layers of Protection
Set thresholds and limits for customer and employee purchases, with oversight for above-limit purchases and return attempts that occur too often. Examine commission policies to ensure that employees are not rewarded for selling to friends, family, or fraudsters who will return merchandise in the post-holiday period.
Request Assistance
Each industry has its own unique fraud challenges. Thus said, it’s a good idea to seek advice from professional advisors and trade associations. These experts can assist in reducing fraud risk as it relates to your particular business circumstances.
Adhering to these tips will guard your business and you can avoid chargebacks and fraudulent charges. And even though fraudsters are becoming savvier with their dealings, they will find it extremely difficult to gain any access to sensitive information from your business.
Ready for your own POS system? Reach out to Dynamic Merchant Solutions today and get a free quote to see what kind of system would be right for you. Your business has the opportunity to continue to grow and develop at the pace it needs to succeed. We can help you get started on the system you need for your company.
