Fraud

Protect your Pin Pad - Merchant Education Tool Kit Provided by Interac Association

What can my staff and I do to prevent fraud?

The basics of fraud prevention can be broken down into two sections.

A. For Face-to-Face transactions, there are four key areas of focus:

• Suspicious customer behaviour
• Card security features and
• Proper processing procedures
• Code 10 authorizations

B. For Mail order/ Telephone Order and Internet Fraud,

• Many of the rules that apply to standard retail transactions are not valid. There are ways to protect your business against fraud.

A. Face-to-Face transactions

1. Suspicious Customer Behaviour

Fraud Prevention begins with keeping your eyes and ears open.

Signs of suspicious customer behaviour can include:

• Customer has randomly collected merchandise without the usual care
• Customer may appear nervous or in a hurry
• The customer may take the card from their pocket instead of their wallet and the signatures may not match.
• Customer makes large, random, expensive purchases

2. Card Security Features

All cards are designed with special security features to deter counterfeiting and alteration. When you are presented with a card, look for the following elements:

On the front

• Verify the match of print and embossing
• Embossing
• Hologram
• Valid Date
• Compare account numbers

On the back

• Signature panel
• Signature

3. Proper processing procedures

The basics

• Check the card's security features
• Always swipe through a terminal
• For manual transactions, always get an imprint of the card
• Compare the signature with the back of the card
• Keep your card reader in proper working order
• Use Fraud Detection Equipment ( SecuriSource )

4. Code 10 Authorizations

Code 10 is a universal code that allows you to alert an authorization department of a suspected fraudulent transaction without alarming the customer. Call for a Code 10 when you think a transaction needs a closer look, or when you believe a fraudulent transaction is occurring.

B. Mail order/ Telephone order (MOTO) and Internet Fraud There is anonymity buying through the mail, over the telephone or online, but here are the steps you can take to help stop credit card fraud.

Watch for

• Larger than normal purchases
• Orders of "big ticket" items for resale
• Orders shipped Rush or Overnight for quick sale
• Transactions on similar account numbers
• Orders shipped to a single address but made from multiple cards

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