Fraud

Account takeover prevention works best when merchants protect login, account changes, and checkout together, then refund likely takeover orders before fulfillment.

ACH fraud uses unauthorized account or routing data or compromised bank access to move money, and liability turns on whether the affected account is consumer or business and how quickly it is reported.

Affiliate fraud creates false or stolen-card conversions that can surface as chargebacks, and referral, device, fulfillment, and account records supply the evidence a merchant needs.

Automated fraud uses bots to launch credential stuffing, card testing, application fraud, or synthetic identity attacks, and the comparison shows which patterns become chargebacks and how to interrupt them.

The average chargeback rate across all industries is 0.60%. To avoid penalties, don’t chargeback rates of 0.9% (for Visa) and 1.5% for other card networks. Keep reading for more vital information.

Card-not-present fraud occurs when stolen card details are used without the cardholder or card present, usually shifting the loss to the merchant unless authentication changes liability.

Chargeback abuse is an intentional dispute over a purchase the customer received, and merchant-side behavior evidence, cost accounting, and prevention controls determine the response.

This guide explains chargeback reason codes and their uses. It covers codes for different card networks and why chargebacks happen. Learn how to use them as a merchant.

Deepfake fraud uses synthetic media to pass signup or support verification, and layered verification plus pre-dispute alerts can stop resulting transactions from becoming chargebacks.

Ecommerce fraud costs are rising sharply, and the most useful merchant benchmark is the reason-code mix showing where disputes begin.

Friendly-fraud prevention combines recognizable billing, refund access, transaction evidence, and alerts to stop valid customers from disputing legitimate charges.

Generative AI fraud accelerates familiar fraud tactics with fake identities, media, and dispute narratives, while durable device, IP, and purchase-history evidence remains effective in a response.

Chargeback prevention works in two layers: fixing root causes like billing descriptors, delivery confirmation, and refund speed, then catching what slips through with Ethoca and Verifi (RDR/CDRN) dispute alerts that can prevent up to 91% of chargebacks before they file.

Loyalty fraud exploits rewards accounts or points, and only card-linked losses can become merchant chargebacks, making account and redemption controls the practical defense.

Mastercard runs two distinct chargeback monitoring programs, ECM for overall dispute ratio and EFM for card-not-present fraud, each with its own thresholds, fee schedule, and exit path.

Mastercard sorts every chargeback into one of four reason categories (fraud, authorization, point-of-interaction error, cardholder dispute), and the category determines whether alert-based prevention can stop the dispute before it files or whether you can only respond after the fact.

PayPal refund scams exploit fake payments, overpayment requests, and off-platform pressure, and merchants can stop them by verifying transactions inside PayPal before returning money or goods.

Promo abuse repeats or circumvents an offer and can later become a fraud or recurring-billing dispute, so identity checks, redemption limits, notices, and evidence records matter.

Shopify’s chargeback protection uses Fraud Protect. This program has software that flags fraud. It handles fraud chargebacks for you and reimburses dispute fees. But, it only works for eligible transactions. Keep reading to find out more.

True fraud is a stolen card or credential used by a stranger who was never the merchant's customer, distinguished from friendly and chargeback fraud by the fact that the real cardholder authorized nothing, so prevention has to happen before the sale (3D Secure, address verification) rather than after.

Winning a chargeback as a consumer comes down to four ordered steps: contact the merchant first, review the transaction, gather evidence matched to the dispute category, then file with the card issuer before the 60-day deadline.