This blog will discuss how to recognize suspicious credit or debit card  transactions that may potentially be fraudulent.   Be mindful of any transaction in which the customer:

1)     Appears nervous.

2)     Does not seem to care much about the item being purchased (how much it costs, size, color, etc.)

3)     Is trying to charge substantially more than your average customer.

4)     Is purchasing an unusual amount of expensive items.

5)     Takes a long time to sign the Sales Draft, or looks at the back of the credit card prior to signing the Sales Draft.

6)     Talks fast or makes an attempt to distract you from checking the signature.

7)     Takes the credit card from their pocket instead of a wallet.

     Repeatedly comes back in a short amount of time to make additional purchases.

If you suspect a fraudulent transaction then immediately contact your Credit Card Processor.  Inform them of the situation and wait for their instructions on how to proceed.

The information in this blog was obtained from the First Data Program Guide.

If you are a retail merchant conducting face to face transactions it is important that you always have your customer sign a Sales Draft.  This can be the Sales Draft that prints from your credit card terminal or an old fashioned hard copy Sales Draft that is run through a manual imprinter.

To drive home this point I will tell a story about an actual situation that happened to a car rental agent.   The transaction started out as normal.  The car rental agent prepared the rental contract, which was signed by the customer.   The car rental agent then swiped the credit card through his terminal and printed out the Sales Draft.  However, the car rental agent forgot to have the customer sign the Sales Draft and handed the keys to the customer.   As soon as the car rental agent remembered that he had forgotten to have the customer sign the Sales Draft he ran outside to get the customer to sign it.  The customer was already in the car and responded with “I’ll sign it when I bring the car back” and all too quickly drove off the lot.  The car rental agent felt he was “covered” because the customer signed the rental contract.

When the customer returned the car he refused to sign the Sales Draft.  Shortly after the customer contacted his credit card company and requested the charges to be reversed, stating of course that he never signed a Sales Draft.  The Credit Card Company contacted the Car Rental agent and asked for a copy of the Sales Draft.   Of course, the Car Rental agent did not have a signed Sales Draft.  Instead, he provided a copy of his signed rental contract, thinking this document “covered” him.

In the end the Credit Card Company found in favor of the customer and the credit card charges were credited back to the customer’s account.  The signed rental contract was not an acceptable substitute for lacking a signed Sales Draft.

Lesson learned – For face to face retail transactions always get a signed Sales Draft.

Importance of Security

Shopping online is extremely easy and convenient; however it does have its draw backs. Security of sensitive information is a growing concern. If you are the merchant, you want to be able to give your customers the peace of mind that their information is in safe hands. It seems like now-a-days there are more and more notices going out from banks letting their customers know that their credit card information may have been compromised. If you are the merchant, how do you protect your customer’s information to avoid instances such as these?

When a customer shops online, they are trusting that the keyed in information will be safe and protected. The truth is that this information exchanges hands a couple of times before the transaction is complete. The pertinent information moves in and out of the database through the transaction process for funds to be transferred from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account thus completing the transaction. This gives thieves many opportunities to steal the information. You, as the merchant, are responsible for making sure that your site is secure. Make sure that your server is protected with reliable fire walls, that you have encryption software, and that you are working with a reputable credit card processing company.

Last, if you are working with sensitive information, you may want to take extra precautions and do background checks on the employees who will be handling this information. Keep all records and transactions locked in a filing cabinet or office with limited accessibility.