Just like they said, it is happening.
We can confirm that our customer base has been experiencing increased chargeback losses due to the liability shift which began back on October 1, 2015. Chargebacks are increasing and occurring across all types of markets and states. From reading the trade journals and recent surveys it appears there are few industries and regions that have been hit the hardest since the liability shift began.
Top Merchant Categories:
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Quick Service
- Vending
- Petroleum
- Online retailers
High Risk Areas:
- College towns
- Large cities
- IL, TX, NY, CA, FL, NJ
- Foreign cards or Border areas
Some common fraudulent activities that should get your attention when a chip or EMV card is being used include:
- If you notice the same individual using multiple cards, something might be amiss.
- Large orders: if someone is going to steal they usually go big on one purchase!
- Gift cards: “digital goods” including gift cards are being specifically targeted by criminals.
Keep in mind these best practices:
- Always process chip cards as intended by inserting the card and following the instructions on the terminal.
- Only swipe a chip card if your EMV terminal tells you to do so after inserting it.
- If a chip card is declined, ask for another form of payment.
- Criminals are making counterfeit magnetic strip cards with data stolen from EMV cards (because they cannot counterfeit the EMV chip). Since you have no way of knowing if a card is supposed to have a chip on it, if you swipe a magnetic stripe card and it is declined or says to insert the card, ask for another form of payment as opposed to trying to get it to work.
- For non-PIN transactions, request a signature and verify.
- Swipe non-chip cards, don’t manually enter account numbers.
- If you must manually enter a card, check the expiration date and make an imprint.
Rest assured the Wind River team is working diligently behind the scenes and delivering on our “After the Handshake” promise to your business by monitoring for incomplete or incorrect disputes.
