Safe E-Commerce Guide

1. Use a designated account for Internet orders and check with bank for restrictions.

2. Consider not accepting credit card orders from people using free e-mail services like hotmail.com. 90% of fraudulent orders come from free e-mail addresses.

3. Consider that there is a higher risk with non-tangible products like software and subscription services.

4. Verify manually if 'bill to' and 'ship to' addresses are different.

5. Use a traceable method of shipping.

6. Use manual credit card processing with AVS verification for least risk.

7. On html and e-mailed receipts, tell customer who they can anticipate the charge on their credit card will come from so they know what to look for on their monthly statement.

8. International orders are the highest risk of all. Request phone number on back of card and manually verify because once the product is out of the country, it's gone.

9. Phone the customer back on large orders, especially on 2nd day or overnight shipping.

10. If you take Internet checks consider using the iCheck service.

11. Be wary of breaking your policies for customers on payment issues, as it could be a fraudulent order (i.e. shipping to a 3rd party address that doesn't match the credit card billing address because it is a gift).

12. Since signatures are not recorded at anytime during purchase or delivery, that leaves the merchant at a greater risk of Internet fraud and charge backs. Therefore, it is very important to get backup information where ever possible.

13. Only give your free offers and bonuses upon receipt of a filled out warranty card or consider another way to get confirmation from the customer that they have received your product.

14. Try to resolve any problems in favor of your customer, reduce your chances of getting bad word of mouth advertising.

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