Blog Category: High-risk Merchants

Comply by October 15: New Adult Merchant Content Guidelines

Acquirers must comply by October 15, 2021 with Mastercard’s extended Specialty Merchant Registration requirements—that aim to crackdown on unauthorized and illegal adult content. According to Mastercard, the updated rules require acquiring banks to “certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal… read more

Post Date: Posted on September 24, 2021September 29, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Merchant Monitoring

Magento 1 EOL: How to Avoid Card-harvesting Malware Breaches in Your Portfolio

Magento 1 e-commerce websites are easy malware targets and among the biggest potential liabilities in any payment provider’s portfolio—and the threat is about to get worse. What is happening? Effective June 30, 2020, Adobe Magento will end support for the Magento Commerce 1 platform. Magento 1 websites will no longer receive vendor-supplied security patches. Visa… read more

Post Date: Posted on June 2, 2020June 4, 2020 Post Categories: Data Breaches, High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud, Merchant Onboarding, Merchant Risk

Dramatic Rise in COVID-19 Related Scams

As COVID-19 engulfs the US, increasing numbers of unethical internet merchants are targeting consumers who are homebound, anxious—and online. According to DomainTools, over 100,000 high-risk coronavirus-related domain names have been created since January.   G2 analyzed these domain names and looked for trends. We found the following:   Exponential Growth In the months of January and… read more

Post Date: Posted on April 3, 2020June 11, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk, Merchant Underwriting, Misleading Marketing Claims

Coronavirus Scammers Target Vulnerable Consumers

While COVID-19 spreads worldwide and panicked consumers rush to acquire pandemic essentials, scammers are out in full force. In the past few weeks, G2 has seen a dramatic increase in healthcare-related scams, especially in the following categories:   Protective Face Masks Face mask fraud is rampant, as bad actors attempt to take advantage of vulnerable… read more

Post Date: Posted on March 19, 2020April 16, 2020 Post Categories: False Claims, High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk

3 High-Risk Ecommerce Markets to Keep Tabs On

As new high-risk merchants establish a presence in ecommerce, weak points in the payments system are exposed Last week, Dan Frechtling, president at Verisk Financial G2 discussed the growing presence of three high-risk ecommerce markets during a panel discussion at the annual ETA TRANSACT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Adult-oriented websites, online pharmacies, and virtual… read more

Post Date: Posted on May 9, 2019April 22, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud

Online Gambling in the US Becomes Less Predictable

Recently, the Justice Department made public a legal opinion that has re-interpreted the federal Wire Act to include all forms of online gambling, not just sports betting. In doing so, it reversed a 2011 opinion on the Act, which established the law as applicable to only sports betting (See Figure 1). At this point, the… read more

Post Date: Posted on January 29, 2019April 22, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Online Gambling

The War on Child-Marketed Nicotine Products Continues

In a recent press release, the FDA ordered the top five e-cigarette manufacturers to reverse the recent trends of child-marketed nicotine…

Post Date: Posted on September 18, 2018June 11, 2021 Post Categories: Blog, FDA, High-risk Merchants, Merchant Risk, Misleading Business Models

5 Opportunities You Don’t Want to Miss!

The G2 Risk Summit Series returns as one of the premier payment events of 2019. Though it seems like yesterday, 10 years have passed and it’s time we celebrated. Together we have witnessed the transformation of…

Post Date: Posted on September 13, 2018June 11, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk

Money Laundering & Misbranded Prescription Drugs

A recent press release issued by the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that two men have been sentenced to imprisonment for the illegal online sale of misbranded prescription drugs and a conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Post Date: Posted on September 4, 2018February 26, 2020 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Merchant Fraud, Money Laundering

Transaction Laundering: The India Ring Investigation

The introduction of smartphone technology, 4G networks and a sudden rise in capital has transformed India’s online market. The convenience and availability of ecommerce has sparked awareness from…

Post Date: Posted on July 26, 2018June 11, 2021 Post Categories: High-risk Merchants, Transaction Laundering