Shield Your Business: Offshore Merchant Account's Saving Guide to Preventing Online Credit Card Fraud

<p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Doctor&#39;s rule of thumb: Prevention is better than cure. Same goes with protecting your online business from fraud. And if your business encounters fraud, then your <strong>offshore merchant account</strong> is in hot water as well. <br /><br />The vastness of the cyber world is incalculable. Makes a most feasible place to sell. On the other hand, you never know who&#39;s lurking behind the names, the addresses, the accounts. There is always the danger of fraud.<br /><br />The fraud scare, even if we try to ignore, will be there to just lurking in the shadows, with fraudsters waiting to make their moves. </font></p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><h1><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Worry before the problem comes</font></h1><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">You have your ecommerce site, everything seems to be flawless. But, it pays to be cautious, since we&#39;re talking about your business, your investment, your bread and butter. Sad but true, we can only get hold of the problem when it actually exists. When a customer calls and let us know of a package that they paid for but never received or a wrong address on file, that&#39;s the only time we will know that something&#39;s not right. <br /><br /></font></p><h2><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Prevention vitamins</font></h2><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Before the bad comes to worst, you should be able to at least be prepared of how fraudsters can do damage to your online business. Remember, their first target is your credit card transactions. Here are offshore merchant account guidelines to protect yourself from fraudsters:</font></p><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><br />● Closely monitor your transactions<br />● Incorporate a customer&#39;s comments box<br />● Upload an Address Verification Service (AVS)<br />● Utilize the Card Verification Codes<br />● Set a rule-based detection software<br />● Get a predictive statistical method software<br />● Hire competent manpower<br /><br />Keeping a watchful eye on the transactions that come in is a big and crucial step to see if you are actually servicing valid customers. You should be able to track the trend and intervals of the transactions on a daily basis. <br /><br />Having comments box will let you know what your customers think and feel. It will never hurt and will be beneficial for you to know their observations. Also, you can get trivial yet critical tips from them. Don&#39;t worry about spammy comments, just install a spam blocker software to filter the comments.<br /><br />An AVS will be able to verify the authenticity of the billing and shipping address of the credit card that was used to pay for the items or services. <br /><br />Card Verification Codes are a set of numbers found at the back of the credit cards. Usually, they are above the signature panel codes. This is to ensure that the card is valid. <br /><br />A rule- based detection software functions much like a risk analysis tool. With this tool, you can make specifications that can categorize the characteristics of your customers and their orders. You&#39;ll be able to analyze if the customer information met the criteria. This software has the ability to accept or reject orders based on the criteria you set.<br /><br />Mathematical equations are the basis of results for predictive statistical method softwares. If an unusual high amount of transaction made on a one-time basis, the software alerts you and also makes risk analysis steps. <br /><br />Getting a competent and results-oriented technical support group is the best move. Softwares can only do much, and glitches will occur, so, you need someone to control and take charge. They can monitor spam comments, see if the softwares are installed properly, if the tools function accordingly and on a real-time basis, and have contingency plans in case system errors come in.<br /><br /></font></p><h3><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Almost 100% fraud-proof</font></h3><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">But as much as we like to sit back and worry about other business stuff, these tips and tools can only serve you much good. The softwares, even though so brilliantly conceived and developed, are still man-made so eventually, someone can still get into it and hack the system. Also, even if they have verified the information with the credit card issuer, the account with a registered address with the issuer can be actually a fraudulent account itself.<br /><br />What you can do is to make layers of fraud detection tools, don&#39;t just stick to one, do all. The more, the merrier...and safer. With your ecommerce site in good shape, then the profits coming in to your <strong>offshore merchant account</strong> will be in a good place as well. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </font></p>