Thanks for joining me for Part 2 of this important article about how to save your store from online thieves.Here's a scenario that will help you identify who is savvy to credit card fraud and who is not.
Let's say that John Smith runs an Internet store that sells books. His store is called Leaflets for Life. Customers order, then he ships
product a few days later.
We have another Internet store owner named Joe Black. He runs a computer parts store called Laptops 4 U. The owner of Laptops 4 U is aware that his merchandise is THE HOTTEST ITEM to steal on Internet. (besides credit card numbers, of course) John Smith puts his feet, turns on satellite TV, and lets Internet run his business silently.
John Smith gets a sale on his online store. The order is for 300 books. John loves way Internet allows his business to pretty much operate on autopilot. He knows that 3rd party vendor he uses to take all his credit card sales took care of it, so all he has to do is print an invoice and pack it up. Off he goes with merchandise to post office, marveling at his first sale from his store.
Joe Black gets a sale on his online store. The order is for a $3,500.00 laptop. He does not use a 3rd party vendor for his credit card processing. He just has a store that uses Secure Socket Layer, then it emails him with a link that he clicks on to take him to his orders. Joe Black's process takes a lot more administrative work, but he feels in control of his business. He really wants to be aware of what goes on every minute. Joe, or whoever prints out orders from store, takes a long, leisurely look at this order. He knows what he is looking for. He gives order to a orders clerk. The orders clerk picks up phone, dials number on order. "Mr. Jones, hi, my name is Angela. I work here in 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 800 number on back of your credit card and your bank's name?" Customer: "Uh, who are you trying to call? This is roller skating rink in Topeka, Kansas." Angela thinks that perhaps person who ordered just mistyped phone number. She gets out her list of merchant phone numbers and calls up Mastercard. "Hello, My name is Angela, and my company is Laptops 4 U. We are a merchant on Internet, and we need to somehow verify that a card number used on our online store was not stolen." Mastercard happily gives her address of cardholder and other information that tells Angela that her company could have lost a laptop and possibly their merchant account when credit number does not go through system.
