Dec 21, 2009
Sundance Vacations warns Consumers on Fighting “Friendly” Fraud
The Better Business Bureau recently published an article in the October publication of the BBB Alert on falling victim to “friendly fraud”.
Businesses are increasingly becoming victims of “friendly” fraud – fraud carried out by customers to get items free of charge. The Better Business Bureau warns small business owners to be on the lookout for “friendly” fraud and offers advice on how to protect against this growing online threat.
According to the Wall Street Journal, many companies – for example, the travel site Expedia – are currently seeing up to a 50 percent spike in “friendly” fraud since 2008. The most common types of “friendly” fraud involve cases in which a customer falsely claims they: *never received an item ordered online, *received the wrong item ordered online, or *had their credit card stolen and were charged for items they didn’t order.
The customer should then demand a refund from the business or demand the merchant to issue a chargeback on their credit card. When friendly fraudsters are unable to coax reimbursements from a business directly, many then issue chargeback’s to their credit card companies. Creditors will investigate the situation, asking for the business owner’s side of the story before deciding whether or not the business is at fault. Defending a business against “friendly” fraud is no easy task, but there are steps to take.
The Better Business Bureau offers the following advice to small business owners: *verify the buyers billing address before sending merchandise, *use a shipper that tracks delivery, *deactivate or deny access to products, *clearly state your return policy on your Website, *be prepared to make your case to the credit card company, and *analyze sales records.
For more advice on defending your small business from fraud, visit www.bbb.org
Or to read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124329230494652391.html
If you are a business owner or a customer pay very close attention to the advice given. The biggest one is : *verify the buyers billing address before sending merchandise*
What I have noticed in my own personal experience is that if you live outside of a larger city sometimes a company’s software will auto fill a zip code. This zip code may not always be correct. For example if you live in Old Forge, Pa on 21 John St, the company auto fill may give the zip code for Scranton, Pa which is a larger city near Old Forge. Your merchandise will be sent based on the zip code and most likely end up at 21 John St. in Scranton. You will then call the company and state you didn’t receive the merchandise, because you really didn’t. It will cause a headache for both yourself and the merchant. Most likely after filing a dispute and waiting a very long time the merchant will resend your product and you will eventually get it. And, if the person at 21 John St. in Scranton isn’t so honest they will keep the package that does not belong to them. This will eventually cause the merchant to have to raise his prices to fight against this type friendly fraud hurting you as a customer in the long run.
So please – merchants and customers, please verify all addresses especially zip codes!!