Blog Category: Merchant Fraud

Rise in Transaction Laundering Hate Groups

Tensions in America rise as the pandemic-fueled economic recession sweeps the nation. Hate groups are among many bad actors who are taking advantage of the current social and political turmoil by peddling violence, misinformation, and fraudulent products online. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, nearly 1,000 hate groups were located in the United States… read more

Post Date: Posted on September 10, 2020April 20, 2021 Post Categories: Hate Groups, Merchant Fraud, Transaction Laundering

The Online Sale of Designer Goods — A Quick Overview for the Payments Industry

Here at G2, we get a lot of questions about the online sale of designer goods to US consumers. For example: Who can legally sell these goods online? Are online consignment shops legal? When boarding a merchant, how can I tell if the website sells counterfeit goods or the real thing? To help answer these… read more

Post Date: Posted on July 7, 2020July 7, 2020 Post Categories: Authorized Resellers, Designer Goods, Intellectual Property, Merchant Fraud

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

3 MAC Conference Highlights for Payment Players

Recently, payment industry experts gathered at the Merchant Acquirers’ Committee (MAC) Level Up conference to discuss hot topics, industry news, and exciting solutions. In its 11th year, the MAC conference — which has now extended to four days — showcased educational sessions led by 55 speakers representing all corners of the payments industry. Below are… read more

Post Date: Posted on April 29, 2019April 22, 2021 Post Categories: Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk

Keep an Eye on Illegal Contact Lens Merchants… They Could Pose a Risk

Did you know that all contact lenses – even decorative non-corrective contact lenses – are considered prescription-only medical devices in the US? That’s right! If a merchant is shipping contact lenses (even crazy vampire-eye lenses!) to the United States without properly requiring a prescription, then that merchant is violating US law and at risk of breaking card… read more

Post Date: Posted on April 4, 2019April 22, 2021 Post Categories: Merchant Boarding, Merchant Fraud

Fake Reviews, Negative News, Real Fines

Federal Trade Commission Fines Herbal Company $12.8MM Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its first case challenging an independent retail website in the use of fake paid reviews (See Figure 1). Cure Encapsulations, Inc., and its owner, Naftula Jacobowitz confirmed allegations that they had indeed made false and unsubstantiated claims for their so-called “fat… read more

Post Date: Posted on April 3, 2019February 26, 2020 Post Categories: Deceptive Marketing, False Claims, Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk

Merchant Risk Management: What Was and
What Will Be

The evolution of merchant compliance and risk management are themes that stemmed across all topics covered last month at the 10th annual Risk Summit Series in Riga and London. Payment industry professionals that represented organizations such as, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), Alliance for Safe Online… read more

Post Date: Posted on March 28, 2019June 11, 2021 Post Categories: Merchant Fraud, Merchant Risk