Large order, credit card address etc. doesn't match

[fivaxis]

I just received a large order ($770) from someone in New York. Looking at the order, the credit card match information is NNNN.

This worries me, especially for such a large order. I have been able to communicate with the buyer but I haven't asked them about the credit card - just the order specifics.

I'm not sure of the best course of action to take, should I tell the buyer the credit card info doesn't match and ask them about that?

[wifi on the fly]

Decline it and make the customer give you the credit cards phones number from the back of the card. Call that number and tell them you are a merchant and you need to verify some info. If it doesn't check out, cancel it.

[fivaxis]

I will try contacting the buyer tomorrow. There's a lot that doesn't add up.

[Essex_boy]

If in Doubt cancel the order.

[chodges84]

I had a large order (£600) and the credit card match information didnt match.

What had happened was they had put the address they wanted it shipped to in the Billing address, so obviously didnt match.

Incidentally it was the Ministry Of Defence that made the purchase, so I thought they'd probably be legit anyway.

Craig

[jbinbpt]

When we have any doubts, we approach the customer and explain that we are making sure that they are not being ripped off. The problem 99% of the time is the ship to / bill to mixup.
jb

[CernyM]

One thing that works surprisingly well is Googling the name and address information on orders.

I received a large order once from a woman with an Ohio mailing address who wanted her package shipped to Hawaii. It had many of the hallmarks of a fraudulent order, it was large, billing didn't match shipping, and she wanted it shipped quickly. She didn't leave a phone number on the order and her email was a hotmail account.

I was tempted to just cancel, but then I Google'd her name in combination with her address(es) and discovered that her and her husband owned a large sailboat and regularly took long boating trips - usually stopping in Hawaii (there was a writeup on them in a local newspaper). The Idaho address matched what Google spit out and the Hawaii address was from a well known Hotel.

At that point, everything made sense, and I shipped out the order.

Scary what you can find out in Google. ;)

[fivaxis]

There's just too much stuff that doesn't add up. The billing and shipping information is the same. The name on those is John Laughter (I guess it's better than John Smith) However the name on the (yahoo) email was Tolu Yemi and they didn't write english too well.

They spelled their city wrong, 2 numbers were transposed on the phone number area code, and when I did call the number I got some insurance claim line.

I cancelled the order.

[RedWolf]

What I do when I get this type of situation is I contact them and tell them that I need to ship to an address that is on file with there credit card company. I tell them they can just call the company and add the address to their account as an alternative shipping address. I then call the bank and verify it before shipping. About half of the time they do, they rest I never hear anything else from them so I assume it is a fraud order.

[bcc1234]

If you keep the IP addresses on record, then just check against ARIN database. If ARIN spits out some european country then go to RIPE and check there.

If the IP belongs to a block owned by a US provider - it does not mean the order is legit, but if the IP shows Nigeria (or something else from the third world) while the customer claims to be located in the US, then you can stop wasting time, and add that IP block to your firewall.

[fivaxis]

Thanks. I checked it out, it looks like the IP is from Germany.

[Morocco]

"I just received a large order ($770) from someone in New York. Looking at the order, the credit card match information is NNNN.
This worries me, especially for such a large order. I have been able to communicate with the buyer but I haven't asked them about the credit card - just the order specifics.

I'm not sure of the best course of action to take, should I tell the buyer the credit card info doesn't match and ask them about that?"

This is a very common problem in the online industry. I can't tell you how many orders I have los in the past because of different billing and shipping addresses. I understand your urgency to get paid and complete this transaction but you just don't feel comfortable shipping it because you are 100% liable for the fraudulent chargeback. Start runing securecode and VbV and you will no longer be liable ion these transactions. These programs allow you to accept these transactions without fearing a chargeback, regardless of cardholder enrollment.