Blog

G2’s 2023 Drug Watch List is now live!

We have added some trending pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs to this year’s list. Some examples: Semaglutide: Semaglutide is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in two FDA-approved injectable prescription-only drugs: Ozempic and Wegovy. Ozempic is approved to help people with Type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels. Wegovy is approved for weight loss. Both drugs contain… read more

Post Date: Posted on August 4, 2023August 5, 2023 Post Categories: Illegal Drugs, Merchant Monitoring, Merchant Risk

KYC Automation: You’re sold…but now how to implement?

You are convinced—automating your merchant Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence process will greatly benefit your business. What now? How do you go from your current, manual processes to automation?  The first step is picking a vendor, and to do that, you need to clearly understand your requirements. Are you trying to improve compliance, or… read more

Post Date: Posted on September 30, 2021September 30, 2021 Post Categories: Merchant Boarding, Merchant Underwriting

Manual KYC is Jeopardizing Your New Merchant Accounts

You want to scale your merchant acquiring business, and new merchants want fast underwriting, so why not just stamp “Approved!” on every new application and enjoy a meteoric rise in revenue?  We all know the reasons: Conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence is required. Even if it wasn’t required, you want to do it… read more

Post Date: Posted on February 7, 2021 Post Categories: Know Your Customer, Merchant Onboarding

Nutraceutical Marketing and Regulatory Risk

When onboarding a nutraceutical merchant, how do you know which claims are compliant versus which claims cross the line? Obviously, a dietary supplement cannot be marketed with claims to miraculously cure COVID-19, but can it be marketed to relieve joint pain? Or reduce inflammation? What if the merchant’s website is claim-free, but its social media includes claims to help treat hypertension? Can a merchant… read more

Post Date: Posted on May 18, 2020July 7, 2020 Post Categories: Blog, False Claims, FDA, Merchant Risk, Misleading Marketing Claims, Nutraceuticals, Problematic Health Claims

Why Frictionless Merchant Onboarding is Irresistible

By: Dan Frechtling, President, Verisk Financial | G2  Last week I was in Dubrovnik, Croatia, speaking on a panel at the Mastercard GRL Cybersecurity & Risk Summit. The topic was frictionless merchant onboarding, which employs digital information capture and automated tools in place of paper forms and manual review of traditional merchant applications. It is… read more

Post Date: Posted on October 9, 2019February 14, 2020 Post Categories: Merchant Boarding, Merchant Onboarding, Merchant Underwriting

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

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

Social Media Inadvertently Drives Illegal Online Drug Sales

Instagram, the social media giant that now boasts 1 billion users, has inadvertently allowed the advertisement of illegal…

Post Date: Posted on October 3, 2018February 26, 2020 Post Categories: Blog, Illegal Drugs, Transaction Laundering

New Risks/Regulations Around Synthetic Drugs, Topicals and More

A “designer” or “synthetic” drug is a structural analog of a controlled substance that mimics the effects of the substance while avoiding classification as illegal. Synthetic copies of pharmaceuticals are common in erectile dysfunction, birth control and…

Post Date: Posted on May 31, 2017 Post Categories: Blog

Real Life Launderers: Tripping on Transaction Laundering

Transaction laundering runs off the notion of profit. Money is the driving force behind a criminal’s urge to sell illegal goods. To gain the most profit from his business, a criminal must be able to accept all types of payments, especially…

Post Date: Posted on May 23, 2017 Post Categories: Blog