Payment Card Newsflash #002
Dear UF credit card merchant:
This just in – a Credit Card Scam ALERT directed at Educational and Non-Profit merchants, received from our payment card processor Elavon, Inc.
Your Banking & Merchant Services Payment Card Team
Newsflash #002:
“Our investigations have indicated fraudsters are targeting educational and non-profit merchants.
The scam normally involves the merchant receiving a donation via email on a card issued in the United States. The merchant will then receive a second email requesting either a full or partial amount of the donation be refunded to a different card issued on a bank located in Nigeria. This scam is trending towards the Atlanta area addresses being used on the original sales and currently reflects amounts in the range of $9,900. Please be aware of this potentially fraudulent activity within your merchant account.
The best business practice to follow is to call Voice Authorization and request Code 10 verification on any suspicious donation transmitted over the internet or per an email request.
- CODE 10 Authorizations
A Code 10 authorization is a preventive tool used to verify additional information on a suspicious transaction. This can be used for card present (face to face) transactions or transactions where the cardholder is not present (Internet/ phone/mail order). Call the Voice Authorization phone number provided by Merchant Services. If you are unsure of the phone number call the Customer Service phone number on your monthly merchant statement or Elavon at 1-800-725-1243. When you call the Authorization Center, choose the prompt for “Code 10”. You will be transferred to an operator and will be asked a series of questions about the transaction. The operator will attempt to verify the information you provide with the bank that issued the card to the customer. If the order was a mail order, phone or Internet sale, be prepared to provide the cardholder name, billing address and shipping address. If the operator cannot verify the information during the call, the information will be forwarded to an investigator to look into the transaction further. We will attempt to contact you within 24 – 72 hours with the current status or results of the investigation. It is recommended to use this process before charges have been placed on the credit card and before the product has been shipped. This avoids being billed for processing fees and loss of shipping costs on the transaction in question. Please note that you may still request a Code 10 if the product has been shipped, but your chances to recover the product will be reduced.”