Safeguarding Your E-commerce Business from Cyber Criminals: Part 2

Imagine two online store owners, John Smith and Joe Black. John runs a book store named 'Leaflets for Life', while Joe operates a computer parts store called 'Laptops 4 U'. John enjoys the convenience of running his business on autopilot, while Joe prefers to be hands-on with his operations, aware that his merchandise is a prime target for online theft.

The Tale of Two Online Store Owners

John receives an order for 300 books on his online store. He relies on a third-party vendor for credit card sales, so all he needs to do is print an invoice and pack the order. He then heads to the post office, thrilled about his first sale.

On the other hand, Joe receives an order for a $3,500 laptop. He doesn't use a third-party vendor for credit card processing. Instead, he uses Secure Socket Layer and manually checks his orders. Upon receiving the order, Joe or his orders clerk, Angela, scrutinizes it carefully. Angela then calls the number on the order to verify it.

"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?"

The response she gets is, "Uh, who are you trying to call? This is the roller skating rink in Topeka, Kansas." Angela then contacts Mastercard to verify the card number used on their online store. Mastercard provides her with the cardholder's address and other information, indicating that the card number might have been stolen. The transaction is halted immediately.

The Aftermath

A month later, John receives a statement from his Merchant Account provider. He has sold about 1,000 books this month. However, two days later, he gets another letter from his merchant provider. The 300 books that someone ordered were purchased with a stolen credit card number. John is now out 300 books and $4,485.00 in revenue. He also receives a warning that if this happens again, he'll lose his merchant account.

Did you notice anything peculiar about the merchant account provider deducting the money from John? Neither Mastercard nor John's merchant account provider bore any of the loss. The merchant bears all of it. John is now in debt to the merchant account provider, and some fraudster is off selling his books in some remote corner of the Internet.

In conclusion, it's crucial for online store owners to be vigilant and proactive in protecting their businesses from cyber thieves. Implementing robust security measures and regularly verifying orders can go a long way in preventing credit card fraud and ensuring the sustainability of your online store.