1. |
First-time shopper:
Criminals are always looking for new victims. |
2. |
Larger-than-normal orders:
Because stolen cards or account numbers have a limited life span,
fraudsters need to maximize the size of their purchase. |
3. |
Orders that include several
of the same items: Having multiples of the same item
increases a criminal's profits. |
4. |
Orders made up of “big-ticket”
items: These items have maximum resale value and
therefore maximum profit potential. |
5. |
“Rush” or
“overnight” shipping: Crooks want these fraudulently
obtained items as soon as possible for the quickest possible
resale, and aren’t concerned about extra delivery charges. |
6. |
Shipping to an international address:
A significant number of fraudulent transactions are shipped to
fraudulent cardholders outside of the U.S. Visa/MC address
verification (AVS) can't validate non-U.S., except in Canada and
the United Kingdom or few other banks who participate in the US
AVS program. |
7. |
Transactions with similar
card account numbers: Particularly useful if the account
numbers used have been generated using software available on the
Internet. |
8. |
Shipping to a single address, but
transactions placed on multiple cards: Could involve an
account number generated using special software, or even a batch
of stolen cards. |
9. |
Multiple transactions on one card over
a very short period of time: Could be an attempt to
"run a card" until the account is closed. |
10. |
Multiple transactions on
one card or a similar card with a single billing address, but
multiple shipping addresses: Could represent organized
activity, rather than one individual at work. |
11. |
In online transactions, multiple cards
used from a single IP (Internet Protocol) address: More
than one or two cards could definitely indicate a fraud scheme. |
12. |
Orders from Internet
addresses that make use of free e-mail services: These
e-mail services involve no billing relationships, and often neither an
audit trail nor verification that a legitimate cardholder has opened the
account. |