Monthly Archives: September 2009

News Update

Merchant Fraud Alert

To All Merchants,

We received the below fraud notification from our First Data today. Please read carefully.

If any merchant receives one of these fax notices, we would request a copy be provided to us so we can forward to First Data. They will record the information and communicate with the proper parties.

Subject: Merchant Fraud Alert
Importance: High

Issue Type: Reported Fraud Attempts at Merchant Locations

Issue Overview: Reported Fraud Attempts at Merchant Locations

In the last week, we have received several reports of attempted (or actual) fraud at merchant locations. The modus operandi of the fraud attempt is that a fax is delivered to a merchant location instructing the clerk/manager to run a “refund” on a card due to a consumer refund not being processed. The fax has the appearance of coming from the corporate office and for all intents looks legitimate. In some cases we have seen, the faxes include a description of the goods originally purchases (then returned), are apparently signed by a Sr. Executive of the company and are on what appears to be company letterhead; all of which adds an element of authenticity to the fax. Additionally, the stores are instructed to fax a copy of the refund receipt to a specific fax number.

According to the Corporate Offices of the impacted merchants, this faxes are not legitimate.

User Impact:

At this time, we know of four attempts and at least two of them appear such that the merchant did in fact follow the instructions of the fax and processed a refund on the card. The issue seems to be, based on the information we have now, targeted to mid-market Supermarkets and does not seem to be isolated exclusively to a single FDC platform. Given the lack of information aside from the four known issues, we are unable to determine at this time how wide spread this issue might be, or if it is singularly targeted to Supermarket merchants.

Resolution / Next Steps:

FDC is in contact with both Visa/MC regarding this issue and has escalated our concerns within their fraud areas.

Additionally, we are attempting to contact the issuer(s) of the known cards for assistance in this matter.

We are taking this matter very seriously, however we have limited to no ability to proactively mitigate the processing of these refunds at merchant locations.

As such, it is imperative that you communicate to your merchants that we have seen this occur recently and for them to guard themselves against fraudulent activity. If they have any questions regarding the legitimacy of a “refund request” like described above, they should contact their corporate office for guidance and clarification.

—
Bill Hoidas
Consultant Manager Larger B2B/MOTO/Internet Accounts
Product Development Manager
Matrix Payment Systems
(847) 381-3482 office
(847) 381-4289 fax
http://paymentconsulting.net
http://chicago.citysearch.com/review/44659273
http://paymentconsulting.net/adv_funding.html
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

These days we are facing an economic crisis and need to prepare ourselves more effectively for the recovery – to discover opportunities, identify potential partners looking for opportunities, looking for a reason to hope. Now it’s a good idea to ask: how could my product/service provide opportunities in today’s economic climate?

News Update

Amex at 2.80% available only through Matrix/fighting downgrades and increased rates for MC/Visa

Hi,

I may have failed to mention that if you use Matrix as your processor we can get you our special groupo rate of 2.80%. This rate is available only through Matrix. Amex usually charges TicketBrokers 3.25% to 3.50%.

Because of my long hours and the fact that almost 100% of my accounts come from client referrals I am very proud of the service I give my clients. This is because I am involved in an industry were unfortunately almost 100% of my competitors quote rates that if true would be under water so consequently they quote you a teaser rate and than proceed to downgrade all of your rewards, business and corporate cards to a higher rate. In addition they charge hidden fees, annual fees, etc. I’m in the industry and sometimes it takes me awhile to properly interpret a statement. Also there are currently about 200 different types of cards which all carry their own rates so we have to make sure that although we give our merchants the best rate possible we also have to make sure we won’t lose money on an account. And of course with us you have 24/7 Level 2 support without having to hit multiple prompts and get put on permahold just to talk to an inexperienced “customer service” rep. The average firm in our industry loses 35% of their merchants per year. Matrix loses less than 1/10 of one percent so there must be a reason for that.

Recently talking with two of our acquirers we asked how many of their ISO’s concentrate on not having their merchants suffer transactions that downgrade to a higher rate. One that has over 1,000 ISO’s said just one-us. The other one has 298 ISO’s and they said two.

—
Bill Hoidas
Consultant Manager Larger B2B/MOTO/Internet Accounts
Product Development Manager
Matrix Payment Systems
(847) 381-3482 office
(847) 381-4289 fax
http://paymentconsulting.net
http://chicago.citysearch.com/review/44659273
http://paymentconsulting.net/adv_funding.html
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

These days we are facing an economic crisis and need to prepare ourselves more effectively for the recovery – to discover opportunities, identify potential partners looking for opportunities, looking for a reason to hope. Now it’s a good idea to ask: how could my product/service provide opportunities in today’s economic climate?