As if times weren't hard enough right now, small businesses are having to be extra vigilant when taking online payments for goods sold as they are seen as easy targets by experienced fraudsters.

Recent figures from the UK Cards Association show that, while debit and credit card fraud has fallen to its lowest level for 11 years as a result of chip and pin technology, attempts to infiltrate consumer accounts, steal identities and forge payments are increasing and many small businesses are bearing the brunt of breaches of supposedly secure payment systems.

For example, in instances where credit card information gained illegally is used to place an order for which the original cardholder will not pay out, the e-Commerce merchant is expected refund all the expenses and cover the hassle by paying a chargeback fee.  There are also instances of Mastercard and Visa  imposing fines on card acquirers running into tens of thousands of pounds where card data has been misused by members of staff because it has not been held securely, with the card acquirer ultimately passing these fines on to the merchant.

Richard Bradley of Accept Cards, who advises the Forum of Private Business (www.fpb.org) on Merchant Services, is urging business owners to be more proactive in preventing credit card fraud, including ensuring they fully understand and properly utilise the banks' security systems.

He notes a recent scam where fraudsters order high-value goods and have them delivered to what they claim is their child's university address, but in reality the child does not exist and the address is just a pick up point for the fraudster to collect the goods.
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Yours,