| Fraud is an unfortunate reality for every business. | | | | people within your business that have access to |
| Business owners cannot afford to be sloppy in | | | | sensitive information. This is as much a matter of |
| regards to fraud protection. Doing this could | | | | trust as it is a matter of security. The fewer |
| seriously put a business at risk. With the rapid | | | | people who are accessing the system, the more |
| pace at which technology changes and the | | | | control you will have over its integrity. There is |
| creativity of fraudsters, it takes diligence to keep | | | | less risk of people being negligent and leaving |
| a business safe. No one is immune. There are | | | | systems open to hackers and fraudsters if only |
| several things that business owners and managers | | | | one or two people are involved. There are fewer |
| can do to ensure that their risk of being taken by | | | | gateways and log-in codes that are open to risk. |
| a fraudulent transaction is minimized. Here are a | | | | If the system is compromised at any stage, it is |
| few tips to help: | | | | much easier to track the weak point in the |
| Know Possible Risks and How They Could Affect | | | | system if there are fewer users. |
| Your Business | | | | A second way to prevent fraud is to know the |
| The most important thing is to keep your | | | | average value of transactions and set limits on |
| company data and client information secure. This | | | | the system. In that way, the security program |
| includes inventory and stock listings, supplier details | | | | automatically prevents excessively large |
| and price lists. It is also vital to maintain client | | | | transactions from being processed. Looking at |
| integrity by keeping their information secure. No | | | | your sales for each month should easily give you |
| external consultant can know your business quite | | | | this information. For example, you may sell books |
| as well as you do. Your experience will provide | | | | online and the average cost of a book is $25. |
| you with a natural instinct as to possible risks in | | | | Most customers will purchase several books at |
| the purchasing process. You may have started | | | | one time and your average transaction is |
| your business as an online company or this could | | | | between $100 and $150. You would then set your |
| be a new area of expansion for you. Regardless | | | | limits between $150 and $200 per transaction. |
| of when you started working online, you will need | | | | Remember, you are basing this on information |
| to be aware of the possible risks. A possible | | | | which shows your sales trends so it should be |
| scenario could be that items are purchased on a | | | | rare that you get a transaction above that. |
| fraudulent card and delivered before that | | | | A third way is to have additional verification |
| information becomes available. You will have lost | | | | processes in your system. These are measures |
| valuable stock and possibly labeled as a business | | | | which are implemented to make sure that the |
| to be weary of dealing with. Both of those things | | | | person transacting on the card is the genuine |
| could negatively affect your business. | | | | cardholder. This may include requesting additional |
| Choose a Merchant Services Company That Is | | | | information from the customer and special |
| Proactive About Fraud Protection | | | | verification codes issued by the cardholder's bank. |
| An important part of fraud prevention is to have | | | | Keep Current with Fraud Protection |
| a virtual gateway that is secure. You should also | | | | Possibly the best way to ensure that your |
| use a merchant service provider that is | | | | business is protected against fraud is to |
| up-to-date with the latest developments in fraud | | | | constantly update your fraud protection software. |
| protection. Any reputable merchant service | | | | This includes running regular anti-virus and |
| provider should hold a PCI compliance certificate | | | | anti-spyware updates on your computer systems. |
| which is an industry standard for card processing | | | | Create backups of your data and store them in a |
| merchants. In addition, your merchant provider | | | | secure format off-site. Train your staff on credit |
| should be able to supply you with detailed | | | | card and system integrity, and have regular |
| information on fraud prevention. It is as much in | | | | workshops to refresh their knowledge and keep |
| their interest as it is in yours to help you prevent | | | | them up-to-date with new developments in the |
| fraud in your business. | | | | industry. Read up and attend training provided by |
| Implement Anti-Fraud Policies in Your Business | | | | merchant service providers and banks on fraud |
| There are a number of basic and practical | | | | prevention. The more knowledge you have, the |
| measures you can implement to protect your | | | | better equipped you will be to protect your |
| business against fraud. First, limit the number of | | | | business against fraud. |