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Thanks for joining me for Part 2 of this important article about how to save
your store from online thieves.
Here's a scenario that will help you identify who is savvy to credit card
fraud and who is
not.
Let's say that John Smith runs an Internet store that sells books. His store
is called Leaflets for Life. Customers order, then he ships the product a
few days later.
We have another Internet store owner named Joe Black. He runs a computer
parts store
called Laptops 4 U.
The owner of Laptops 4 U is aware that his merchandise is THE HOTTEST ITEM
to
steal on the Internet. (besides credit card numbers, of course)
John Smith puts his feet, turns on the satellite TV, and lets the
Internet run his business silently.
John Smith gets a sale on his online store. The order is for 300 books.
John loves the way the Internet allows his business to pretty much operate
on autopilot.
He knows that the 3rd party vendor he uses to take all his credit card sales
took care
of it, so all he has to do is print an invoice and pack it up. Off he goes
with the
merchandise to the post office, marveling at his first sale from his store.
Joe Black gets a sale on his online store. The order is for a
$3,500.00 laptop.
He does not use a 3rd party vendor for his credit card processing. He just
has a store that
uses Secure Socket Layer, then it emails him with a link that he clicks on
to take him to
his orders. Joe Black's process takes a lot more administrative work, but he
feels in control
of his business. He really wants to be aware of what goes on every minute.
Joe, or whoever prints out the orders from the store, takes a long,
leisurely
look at this order. He knows what he is looking for. He gives the order to a
orders clerk.
The orders clerk picks up the phone, dials the number on the order.
"Mr. Jones, hi, my name is Angela. I work here in the customer service
department, and we are
verifying your order from our online store. To protect your security could
you tell us if
you ordered items from our online store today, and if you did, could you
please
provide us with some verification of your order. We WANT TO PROTECT YOU.
Could you
please give us the 800 number on the back of your credit card and your
bank's name?"
Customer: "Uh, who are you trying to call? This is the roller skating rink
in Topeka, Kansas."
Angela thinks that perhaps the person who ordered just mistyped the phone
number.
She gets out her list of merchant phone numbers and calls up Mastercard.
"Hello, My name is Angela, and my company is Laptops 4 U. We are a merchant
on the Internet,
and we need to somehow verify that a card number used on our online store
was not stolen."
Mastercard happily gives her address of the cardholder and other information
that tells
Angela that her company could have lost a laptop and possibly their merchant
account when
the credit number does not go through the system.
......the transaction stops RIGHT THERE. Go no further.
(this is not a totally untrue story...happened to us in a similar situation)
John Smith gets the statement from his Merchant Account provider about a
month later.
He has sold about 1,000 books this month. His books are a real hot item!
Two days later, John Smith gets another letter from his merchant provider.
John's
merchant provider, like many, automatically deposits or deducts credit card
transactions
from his checking account. After John got the first statement, he gave most
of the profits
to his wife so that she could go down to the A&P superstore and buy some
food. She also
decides they need a new living room couch. The money's spent.
The 300 books that someone ordered, well - they were ordered on a stolen
credit card
number.
Did John or his automated online store merchant know this? How could they?
The owner of
the credit card did not know their number and expiration date had been
lifted from a
store somewhere on the Net.
John is out 300 books and $4,485.00 in revenue. He also receives a
threatening notice that
if this happens again, he'll lose his merchant account.
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Did you notice anything strange about the merchant account provider taking
the money away
from John? Mastercard did not eat any of the loss, and neither did John's
merchant account
provider..notice that?
The merchant eats ALL OF IT. John is now in debt to the merchant account
provider, and some
nimrod is off selling his books in some far away corner of the Internet.
About the Author
Lynne Schlumpf is the CEO of Route 66 Cyber Cafe, Inc.,
http://www.r66cci.com, a Web hosting and design company
specializing in promoting websites for new owners, building
affordable e-commerce sites, and providing reliable web hosting
solutions as an affiliate of Virtualis Incorporated.
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