Credit">www.paynetsystems.com">Credit card fraud is a kind of fraud where a merchant is "tricked" into releasing merchandise or rendering services, believing that a credit card account will provide payment for goods/services.

Typically, the fraudster causes a credit card of another person to be charged for a purchase. Today, half of all credit card fraud is conducted online, meaning that the fraudsters make online purchases with the credit card details of other people.

Credit card fraud is one of many forms of fraud involving credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, or prepaid cards.

You can save your credit card from fraud by trying the following:

* First and foremost, follow the procedures recommended by your payment processor and the card companies.

* A quick look at all the details of a transaction should give you a good initial screening for red flags associated with credit card fraud.

* Even if everything in the initial screening looks good, merchants need to remember that an authorization number received by the credit card means only that there is an account with that number and, at that moment, the funds are available.

* Be sure you obtain the CVV2 number even if your system doesn't use it. This is the 3 digit number to the right of the printed card number in the signature panel.

* Trace the IP number. This can be one of your best tools, especially if the ship to: and bill to: are different. Take a good look at origin of the order and compare it to the card holder information.

* Cross reference the card holder's telephone number and address. Consider the cross reference only as verification.

* Verify the cardholder address. This is the most difficult step, but remember that any address verification provided by your processor is probably not as current as the one at Visa/MC or the issuing bank, and CVV2 is not always working at all.

Knowledge is your best defense! Join a merchant advocacy group.

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