What Can You Do to Protect Yourself from the Surge in Holiday Fraud?

Fraud increased by 31% during the 2016 holiday season. Now is the time to get prepared and be vigilant before fraud hits your bottom line this holiday season. How can you protect your sales from fraud this holiday season? Read on to find out how to prevent fraud at your point of sale that is simple and easy to implement before the holiday season takes off.

Fraud Increases During the Holidays

ACI Worldwide compiled benchmark data  from the top global merchants and it revealed that global fraud increased by 31% during the 2016 holiday season. This was a significant increase over the rise in overall transactions at 16%. The odds are stacked against merchants when it comes to credit card fraud. The banks are protected and the card holders are protected, but it is the merchants that pay the price. Therefore, doing everything possible to protect your business against fraud is paramount to the success of your business.

5 Pillars for Protecting Your Business from Point-of-Sale Fraud

For many companies, holiday sales are the bread and butter that help put their businesses over the top and help pad the coiffeurs for the coming year. These tips can help you keep more of your hard earned sales and less in the pockets of thieves.

1. Change the Default Passwords: When you first begin setting up your new point-of-sale device or system, change the default passwords. If you did not do this initially, it’s never too late. In fact, change your password frequently. The password you choose should have uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It should be at least 8 characters and never use common or easy-to-guess passwords.
2. Educate Your Employees: There are patterns and clues that can help you and your employees spot suspicious transactions. Spotting a suspicious transaction can mean something simple like matching a signature or cross referencing a credit card signature with a previous signature on file or the more detail oriented online order screening. Also, it’s a good idea to check up on your business remotely, but it must be done in the right way. While you travel your online privacy is always at risk, to be safe it’s a smart idea to connect trough a safe Vpn as explained in this article by Anonymster.
3. Maintain Terminal Safety: Regularly inspect all of your point-of-sale devices and equipment for signs of tampering. If you suspect something is wrong, contact your merchant service provider immediately.
4. No Internet Browsing: Do not allow your employees to surf the internet on your point-of-sale systems. Besides wasting time when they should be working, they could accidentally download malware or a virus that can compromise your security.
5. Use Technology to Bolster Your Security: All point-of-sale software comes with firewall technology. Make sure to keep it updated and installed throughout your entire point-of-sale network. In addition, some merchant companies and third party companies offer programs that help detect fraudulent orders.

Summary and Takeaways for Your Company

Merchants have to look out for themselves since the cards are stacked against businesses in favor of the banks and the card holders. Take all the precautions necessary to protect your business from fraud. Learn from the mistakes and analyse what went wrong when fraud did get through so that you can work to prevent it from happening again. Boosting your fraud protection not only reduces the threat of credit card fraud against your company, but your measures provide additional security for your customers. If word gets out that a company’s security is compromised, it can damage the reputation. At Gopromotional, we know a thing or two about branding and reputations. It takes so much to build a brand, but something like a security leak can break down what you worked so hard to build up. Don’t let that happen by following our tips to prevent fraud and remaining vigilant through the holiday season and beyond. Remember to change the default passwords, educate your employees how to detect suspicious transactions, maintain terminal safety, don’t allow surfing the internet on point-of-sale systems, and use the technology available to protect your merchant account.