Online fraud is on the rise: Ask us anything about keeping your account safe!🔒

[Ani_]

It's that time of year again … time to gather, spread joy with decorations, give gifts, and — if you're like me — that includes a lot of online orders. With all of the coming and going, it's also a time for fraudsters to make their own moves: This can look like a bogus online order form, fake charity account, or a phishing scam.

But what else should we keep in mind this year? Account takeover fraud has increased 133% in 2022. In the United States alone, individuals who have experienced an account takeover have lost an average of $12,000 USD. For more information on how online fraud impacts countries across the globe, have a look at this article: Global Statistics in Account Takeover Fraud for 2023.

Rest assured that we've got your back! Square has rolled out a bunch of new security features and I'm excited to introduce you to @MimiW on the Square Account Security team. She will be here to address any questions you may have, and make sure you're aware of best practices for keeping your information secure.

Here are some example questions: 

• As a buyer and a seller, what is the best way to keep my information secure online?
• Is two-step verification worth the hassle?
• I was directed to a different website to complete a gift purchase. How do I know that it's safe to enter my credit card information?

Click 'Reply' below to ask your question ahead of time, and we’ll answer every question on Wednesday, November 30. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

[TeckWrapCraftAu]

Why won't you enact stronger security measures on your end, to prevent us from being constantly defrauded by persons purchasing on our websites with stolen card details? Every other payment authenticator offers Verified by Visa etc, but I have asked Square about this twice now and each time you have told me you don't offer this service. 
I have given up, as I have been defrauded 14 times so far this year by people when Square approved the transaction but in reality it should have been flagged (e.g. using multiple attempts to get card/expiry/CCV correct). 
I now use another payment processing service which actually works WITH ME to prevent fraudsters from placing orders on my website. 
Oh, and their fees are lower than yours too. 

I get that I am small cookies to you, that I only process ~$150k of transactions on my website each year, but still... that's thousands and thousands of dollars going to Square in transaction fees, and you can't offer me basic cardholder security protections to ensure I am not being defrauded as a merchant.

I know you won't read this out, and you won't answer it. It will be deleted and never addressed. I just wanted SOMEONE at Square to read this and realise that you have lost a customer because you aren't doing enough.

[MimiW]

Hi @TeckWrapCraftAu,

We are sorry you have had a negative experience. Square is dedicated to working with sellers to ensure that your ecommerce sales are protected from buyer fraud. There are three forms of protection available for Square sellers:

1. Our Account Services Team: We want to prevent you from dealing with a payment dispute, so we periodically review your transactions to help protect you from fraud. If we determine a transaction(s) on your account is likely to be the work of scammers, we’ll alert you via email. Once you receive an alert via email, we ask that you refund/not process the order(s) being investigated and decline further payments from the customer in question until you hear back from us. In the meantime, we’ll look into the details of your transaction(s) and compare them with other known fraud patterns we’ve identified.This review process is typically completed within 1 business day. We’ll send a second email to let you know the outcome of the review, or if we need any additional information from you.
   
   
2. Machine Learning Systems: To keep your account safe, Square uses machine learning to look at payments from across our ecosystem and adjust our algorithms to account for new trends in fraud. Live transaction monitoring and human expertise work hand-in-hand to adapt our technology to the shifting fraud landscape every day. Our team of fraud experts contact you if we notice anything unusual.
   
   
3. Risk Manager: Square understands ecommerce sellers want other ways to manage their risk profile which is why in December we will be introducing Risk Manager for sellers to combat fraud for free. Square’s Risk Manager feature is a tool that helps you spot and manage potential fraud from online payments processed with Square. You can create rules in Square Dashboard to trigger your own fraud alerts or to automatically decline suspicious payments. When you set up risk alerts, you can view additional details about suspicious payments, as well as options to issue a refund, block the payment card, or dismiss the alert. Risk Manager also gives sellers the option to implement rules that trigger 3D Secure on qualifying purchases. 

Risk Manager is currently in beta testing. If you’d like to participate or learn more, please email the Beta Team on beta-au@squareup.com to let us know.

There is always a potential risk of facing a dispute when accepting debit or credit card payments. If a customer does dispute a payment, Square will represent you in the dispute process free of charge, and our team of specialists will use their expertise to help you along the way. Learn more about the disputes process. If you suspect fraud, let the customer know you can’t accept the sale. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns about a customer. We also suggest that Sellers familiarise yourself with how to protect yourself from scams and fraud.