Fraud Practices

Fraud demands urgent attention and SimplePart has the tools and know-how to help you combat this issue. SimplePart’s Control Panel has several built-in features to help you take proactive measures against fraudulent orders.

Ways to prevent fraudulent orders

A or B/Green = Order ready to process/No order actions or fraud warnings present

C/Yellow = Be Wary/Action Required

F/Red = Take Immediate Action/Potentially Fraudulent

Look for fraud-related order warnings. Another great way to help identify fraudulent orders is by checking for fraud-related order warnings, such as those for previous fraud, address verification failures, and billing and shipping address mismatches. These notifications will display beneath the “Receive Order” and “Ship Order” buttons on the Recent Orders screen and at the top of the order details screen. You will want to pay special attention to order warnings related to previous fraudulent orders and address issues, which we’ve described in more detail below.

Check for previous fraudulent orders. Orders from customers that have previously placed fraudulent orders will be marked with an order warning alerting you to the number of previous orders with fraud. This is a great way to identify customers with a history of potential fraud.

Look for a failed AVS message. The Address Verification Service, or AVS, is one of the most widely used fraud prevention tools in card-not-present  transactions. AVS checks to see if the billing address provided by the customer matches the information on file at the cardholder's bank. When you see the “Failed Address Verification” order warning, this means there was an AVS failure and that some or all of the billing address is unrecognized by the bank and may be indicative of a stolen card.

Check the billing and shipping addresses. Once you’re inside the Recent Orders tab in your Control Panel, you’ll select the order you want to review. Click “Order Details” to view order information. Next, click “Fraud Prevention.” This will allow you to use tools to help you prevent fraudulent activity. 

When verifying the customer’s billing and shipping addresses, it’s important to make sure they lead to an actual address, and not an empty lot. It’s also important to check to see if the shipping and billing addresses match. If they don’t, there will be an order warning saying that the billing and shipping addresses do not match, and in that case, it’s a good idea to call or message the customer to confirm their identity.

Check the email address. A quick check will verify if it’s a legitimate address. It’s also a good idea to see if it matches the name of the customer (i.e, the customer’s name is John Smith and their email is johnsmith01@gmail.com).

Utilize phone lookup tools. Click the link “White Pages” to verify the phone number matches with the customer who placed the order. While this is a useful tool to help prevent fraudulent orders, you should still verify other order information.

Make sure you receive a reply. Whether you’re calling or sending an email, it’s important to receive an actual response from the customer.

Check the IP address. An order placed outside of your country can be a big indicator of fraud. If you want to be on the safe side, take extra steps to look into orders placed in different states. While this is a useful tool, you should still verify other order information as this alone does not guarantee it’s a fraudulent order.

Be wary of larger orders. If an order is over a monetary threshold as defined by your dealer, it’s wise to call the customer and do more research. Also, take note of customers ordering large quantities of the same product. Just as with a bigger-than-average order, buying multiple items is a way of maxing out stolen cards as quickly as possible.

Remember: You are not obligated to fulfill every order. If you are worried about it possibly being a fraudulent order, don't move forward — especially if the customer has been associated with previous fraudulent orders. 

While not all orders with order warnings are fraudulent, it is important to take precautions when processing such orders. If you are able to identify a fraudulent order, please mark the order as fraud in case the same customer attempts to make additional orders.