User's Guide

Fraud Protection Services User’s Guide 85
Fraud Filter Reference
High-risk Address Filters
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NOTE: Fraudsters most often use free services at which they do not need to provide traceable
billing information. (Free services are also popular among legitimate shoppers—
because they are free.)
It is therefore a good practice to check whether the billing name appears in some form
in the e-mail address. For example, Tina Johnson should have an e-mail address of
[e-mail] or [e-mail], or some similar variant. Such
an e-mail address is less suspicious than [e-mail].
The specified action is taken whenever the e-mail service provider is found in the risk list.
How does the filter protect me?
Online merchants rarely talk to their customers. The customer’s e-mail address is a critical
communications channel between the merchant and customer. For example, e-mail is often
used to confirm a purchase and to notify the customer that shipment has been made.
It is therefore important for merchants to determine how reliably the e-mail address is tied to
the identity of the customer. Some e-mail service providers make it especially easy to open and
close e-mail accounts without ever providing personal information, enabling fraudsters to use
false identities to cover their tracks.
You should examine any transaction in which a high-risk e-mail service provider is involved.
Geo-location Failure Filter
What does the filter do?
This filter compares the IP address of the customer’s computer (captured in real-time when the
transaction is submitted) and compares its geographical location to the billing and shipping
addresses. IP (Internet protocol) addresses are unique identifiers for computers that can often
be mapped to a specific city or area code.
The specified action is taken whenever the IP address, shipping address, and billing address do
not fall within a 100 mile radius. If you provide only one physical address (billing or shipping
address), then the filter triggers when the distance between the IP address and the address that
you provided is greater than 100 miles.
NOTE: Gift purchases shipped far from the billing address will trigger the filter.
Every effort has been made to ensure that IP address mapping is accurate and
up-to-date. Given the nature of the Internet’s architecture, however, some Internet
Service Providers use data centers far from the customers being serviced. In addition, as
described in the IP Address Risk List Match filter, IP addresses can change
dynamically. For these reasons, treat this filter as an indicator of suspicious activity, not
as a definitive result.
How does the filter protect me?
Comparing the geographical location associated with the IP address to the submitted shipping
and billing information can be an effective method for identifying identity spoofing.
Fraudsters often pretend to live in a location, but live and shop from another.