As with any other fraudulent activity, there is no magic bullet to detect and prevent all carding. We suggest implementing a layered payment review process, including the following features and activities:
Use a CAPTCHA - CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) creates challenges to ensure that payment attempts are not sent by automated scripts.
AVS responses - The Address Verification System (AVS) checks the billing address that buyers provide at checkout against the address that the credit card company has on file for them. The credit card company sends a response immediately to let you know if the billing address matches. The common responses are:
Y - Full address match
A - Address match only
Z - Only the zip code provided matches
N - No information matches. The credit card company will not stop a transaction if the AVS response is N unless the card has been reported lost or stolen.
The AVS system works in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. only. Credit cards issued from any countries that do not support AVS may return the following responses: U (AVS unsupported), S (AVS system unavailable), or G (Global card.) See the Payflow Developers Guide for more information on AVSADDR and AVSZIP.
CSC responses -The Card Security Code (CSC) system checks the 3 or 4 digit number of the credit card and verifies it during the authorization processes. The common response is:
Y - Matched
N - Does not match
X - Unknown or no response
You should only accept transactions where the CSC matches. See the Payflow Developers Guide for more information on CVV2MATCH.
IP geolocation checks - Doing IP geolocation checks is a way to match the IP that the user is accessing your website from against the billing address that they provide when they check out. In addition to checking the IP against the billing address, you should also check to see if the user is accessing your website using a proxy IP. A proxy IP is generated through free or paid services that make it appear that the user is accessing your website from a location other than where they actually are. If the user's billing address is in one state (such as Nebraska) but their IP is in another state (such as Florida), it is possible that they are traveling but this should not be assumed. This type of mismatch warrants a closer look at the user's information.
Credit card BIN checks - The Bank Identification Number (BIN) is the first six digits of every credit and debit card. Not only does it provide information regarding the type of card that is being used (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover), but it can also be used to find the name and location of the bank that issued that particular card. This information can be very important in detecting carding. Typically, you should see a wide dispersal of cards with the same BIN. For instance, you may receive two payments from cards with the same BIN in a month; with carding, especially if credit card information has been purchased online, you may receive ten payments from cards that have the same BIN, within a day or two. Tracking BINs may help identify this activity.
Machine ID/device fingerprinting - This can be used to identify problematic or fraudulent customers. It is commonly offered by third-party fraud management companies to determine whether or not a user is repeatedly visiting a merchant's site using different payment attributes (names, addresses, IPs, credit cards, computer browsers, etc.) to mask their identity. Fraudsters may visit your site often and make several purchases using different payment information, but the device that they use to make the purchase will be the same.
Velocity checks on your shopping cart - This suggestion refers to checks you do on your website, not through the Payflow velocity fraud filters. Velocity is the number or speed of payments made within a certain period of time, for example, 10 payments sent from the same customer within seconds or minutes of each other. Monitoring this activity is important. Even with donation sites, it may be unusual for a user to make low dollar payments in rapid succession. Payment velocity can be monitored by dollar amount, user IP, billing address, BIN, or device.
Shopping cart session velocity - This refers to the number of times that one buyer can attempt to complete an order in one shopping cart session. By putting a limit on the attempts in one checkout session, you have visibility into the number of shopping cart declines which may assist in identifying a possible carding situation.
Authorization/capture - If you are using authorization/capture, review the transactions during the authorization period. If you believe that you are being targeted by carding activity, do not capture the funds. If you have already captured the funds, you have the option to issue a refund rather than wait for a chargeback.
03-18-2025, 12:39 PM
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