2009

How Fraud Protection Services Protect You
Protection Against the Threats—Fraud Filters
2
12 Payflow Link Fraud Protection Services User’s Guide
Protection Against the Threats—Fraud Filters
Configurable filters screen each transaction for evidence of potentially fraudulent activity.
When a filter identifies a suspicious transaction, the transaction is marked for review.
Fraud Protection Services offers two levels of filters: Basic and Advanced. The filters are
described in
Appendix E, “Fraud Filter Reference.”
Example Filter
The Total Purchase Price Ceiling filter compares the total amount of the transaction to a
maximum purchase amount (the ceiling) that you specify. Any transaction amount that
exceeds the specified ceiling triggers the filter.
Configuring the Filters
Through PayPal Manager, you configure each filter by specifying the action to take whenever
the filter identifies a suspicious transaction (either set the transaction aside for review or reject
it). See PayPal Manager online help for detailed filter configuration procedures.
Typically, you specify setting the transaction aside for review. For transactions that you deem
extremely risky (for example, a known bad email address), you might specify rejecting the
transaction outright. You can turn off any filter so that it does not screen transactions.
For some filters, you also set the value that triggers the filter—for example the dollar amount
of the ceiling price in the Total Purchase Price Ceiling filter.
Some filters are designed to automatically accept transactions that meet specific criteria, like a
known good customer’s account number that you specify.
Reviewing Suspicious Transactions
As part of the task of minimizing the risk of fraud, you review each transaction that triggered a
filter through PayPal Manager to determine whether to accept or reject the transaction. See
PayPal Manager online help for details.
Buyer Authentication Service
Buyer Authentication Service integrates Visa’s Verified by Visa and MasterCard’s SecureCode
into secure calls to the Payflow service. These services prompt buyers to provide a password
to their card issuer before being allowed to execute a credit card purchase.
Buyer Authentication is the only screening tool that promises to shift fraud liability from the
merchant. The Buyer Authentication password is the digital equivalent to a FDMS shopper’s
handwritten signature. The use of the password protects merchants from some chargebacks
when a customer claims not to have authorized the purchase.