This article was originally published in Elavon’s Payment Smart newsletter. Find out more about our program with U.S. Bank/Elavon here.
It’s hard to know what payment fraud defense strategies you need based on the varying types of fraud attacks. Our partner, U.S. Bank, has guidance from their Loss Prevention teams for combating one of the fastest growing forms of eCommerce fraud – authorization (auth) testing.
How it works
Fraudsters attempt to test stolen payment card numbers with a small online purchase from an unsuspecting merchant to see if the card payment gets authorized. If it does, they quickly start racking up bigger charges on the stolen card. Since every transaction comes with an authorization cost, this fraudulent activity can cost you valuable dollars and put your business at risk of chargebacks, lost revenue and a decrease in customer trust.
Common indicators of fraudulent auth testing
If you identify any of these fraudulent auth testing indicators, contact technical support for your payment processor.
Prevention measures
1https://www.jpmorgan.com/merchant-services/insights/card-testing-prevention*