New Delhi, Sept 21: Congrats! You won a free trip to Hawaii. To redeem this offer please call on xx-xx-xxxxxx. You call. You're told you must join a travel club first and you're asked for your credit card number so you can be billed. The catch! Charges you didn't make are added to your bill, and you never get your trip.
You receive an email saying - Paypal is upgrading its member information. Please fill in your credit card information. The catch! Paypal or any other reputable credit card company will never ask for credit card nos. on email.
Not a day goes when I don’t receive unsolicited emails informing me I have won million dollar prize and asking for my credit card no. to redeem my prize. Credit card fraud costs cardholders and issuers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. It's not always possible to prevent credit or charge card fraud from happening. But there are a few steps you can take to make it more difficult for a crook to capture your card or card numbers and minimize the possibility.
Prevention for consumers 1. Look for Approval Seals Deal with reputable companies (companies you already know from their retail stores, mail order catalogs or other services).

At a minimum be sure that you have the company's physical address (preferably not a PO Box) and a telephone number so that you can contact them offline. See if the site is a member of a privacy seal program, for example BBBonline, CPAWebTrust or TRUSTe.



2. Read Privacy Statements The privacy statement gives you the ability to make an informed purchasing decision based on how your information will be used. Read the privacy statement and equip yourself to take control over your privacy. Beware of any site that does not provide a link to its privacy statement from its home page, as these are the Web sites that probably have something to hide.



3. Only give out information that is necessary for the transaction If you are unsure of the credibility and security of the Web site or why the information is needed, don't divulge any personal information such as your credit card number, Social Security number, phone number or address



4. Only Place Credit Card Orders Through Secure Servers Most Web merchants alert you when you are entering their secure servers by posting a closed lock symbol on the browser. Make sure you see it before offering your credit card number.



5. Shop at sites that have clear return policies Review each site's return policy to ensure your gifts can be returned or exchanged if necessary.



6. Create unique passwords Don't use your date of birth, social security number or recognizable words. One strategy for creating and remembering passwords is to come up with a phrase that only you would remember.



7. Check to see if the Web site provides a customer service phone number Should a problem arise you'll have another option besides email to communicate with a retailer



8. Print and keep information for your records Print out the order for with your purchases and confirmation numbers in case there is a dispute later or the products are not delivered.



Prevention for webmasters/merchants 1. Look at your orders There can be a number of things that can alert you to a possible fraudulent order if you take the time to look at your orders. These include: · Poor spelling · Bad Grammar · FULL CAPITALS · Order Address is different to delivery address · Delivery name is different to the name on the credit card. · The nature of goods ordered can be a give away. For example items that are easily converted to cash on the black market such as electronics, jewelry etc. or · Items that are ordered in unusual quantities and or combinations. · Orders greatly exceeding the average order value. I.E. a $600 order is suspicious when the average order is only $60] · Items easily available in the country the order is from.



2. Address Verification Service (AVS) Provided by most merchant processors, you can run the AVS service on all of your transactions to ensure that the information they gave you matches with the information on the file with the card issuing bank (The Credit Card Bank). If it is different, then it is possible, among other things, that the consumer has a partner involved with the order. Contacting the consumer to find out the exact reason is highly encouraged.



3. Check the I.P. Address Websites log the I.P address of visitors and ideally your website should check to see that the country of the person placing the order corresponds with the address that they say that they have. This would detect an order where it says that the order is being placed by someone in the US but is actually entered by someone in some other country.



4. Re-check orders requesting 'Fastest Possible Shipping' At times the cost of “fastest possible shipping” is more than the cost of the product. Definitely worth the effort of a re-check.



5. Use Fraudulent Notices Place fraudulent notices, buttons and images on your order forms and your web site content. Let the customers know that fraudulent orders will be pursed to the fullest extent of the law. By having these notices, it will usually run off the smaller scamsters atleast.



6. Mention what will appear in the Credit Card statements Mention what name will appear in the credit card statement. For example if you are using ccnow, ‘CCNOW’ name will appear in the statement. Incase of Paypal your store name and Paypal name will appear.



7. Be wary of orders from free e-mail addresses Once a thief has a stolen credit card number and a stolen address they need one more thing to complete their fraud portfolio - untraceable e-mail address to hide behind. That's why a high proportion of fraudulent orders come from free e-mail addresses. As a result, many merchants refuse to accept orders from them or at least perform additional checks. You can find a list of free e-mail domains on the AntiFraud Web site at http://www.antifraud.com/redflag.htm



8. Call the Customer The most effective way of preventing fraud and checking the authenticity of an order. Worth the cost and effort.



9. Not Sure...Don't Do It If after doing your checks you are still unsure, then it's better to decline the order and lose the sale rather than run the risk of selling to a fraud.



Online shopping is a safe and convenient way of making a purchase, provided the safeguards are adhered to by both consumers and merchants. The major issue isn’t of online or offline shopping but of basic education of using and processing credit cards.



Consider this, a thief goes through trash to find discarded receipts or carbons, and then uses your account numbers illegally. A dishonest clerk makes an extra imprint from your credit or charge card and uses it to make personal charges. The best way to beat fraud is educate the consumer and make transactions only secure sites having approval seals.