By Melody Lashmar Operation Choke Point and increased pressure by bank regulators on Financial Institutions to identify and eliminate merchant fraud has certainly increased the monitoring efforts by banks regarding their payment services. Under Operation Choke Point, Financial Institutions, ISOs and IPSPs are being held liable and accountable for their merchants’ fraudulent...
By Melody Lashmar The phrase “Operation Choke Point” conjures up many images and is representative of the spirit in which the authorities are using their power to target the providers within the payment industry.
Operation Choke Point is, in fact, the name that the authorities have given their combined efforts in stopping bad merchants by removing the payment processors that...
By Melody Lashmar There are many things affecting an online merchant’s ability to stay afloat in the competitive Internet marketplace. A downturn in the economy, business rivals with a similar product on the market and dwindling consumer confidence can all take a toll on your profits. In addition to these factors is the very real threat of e-commerce fraud, one of which is...
We live in a society where many people want to get something for nothing. This is especially true in the retail world. Rather than paying for merchandise received, some deceitful consumers would rather “steal” their purchases by either claiming their credit card was stolen and they were charged for items they didn’t order or by stating they never received the item in the mail....
You have some ‘splainin to do
Things have been going along just fine but, seemingly out of nowhere, you are getting questions on your merchant processing. Technically, you are compliant with the payment association rules, so why all these questions? It seems that the things you used to do are now not accepted and things that were previously forbidden are now...
As a business owner, it’s in the best interests of your company to guarantee customer satisfaction and loyalty. You want buyers to not only keep patronizing your goods and services, but to tell their friends about your products. Even though you work hard at building a solid relationship with your audience, you may encounter a scam artist who takes advantage of your good will....
By Melody Lashmar - It’s that time of the month again… I get cranky and tired and irritated. I know what you are thinking and I assure you, it’s not hormonal. It’s the result of the monthly roundtable call I participate in where I get updated on many of the ridiculous, and often government funded, attacks on merchants and third-party processors. To be fair, I will agree that not...
In the retail world, con artists have always attempted to outsmart unsuspecting business owners. If they’re shopping in a store, they may swap one price tag for a lower one or purchase expensive merchandise for a special occasion, wear it and then return it, claiming that they had problems with the item.
Cyber criminals play many games to swindle small business owners. These thieves may make large purchases with stolen credit cards and the Internet retailer is none the wiser until a chargeback occurs. Con artists may also initiate chargebacks for merchandise they received but claimed was lost in the mail. They then resell the purloined product for a profit.
