High risk of fraud detected using Shop Pay Installments

[JustMeFrank]

I received an order, the purchase was made using Shop Pay Installments, and it's flagged "High risk of fraud detected"

This is the Full Analysis:

The thing is that since they opted for the Shop Pay Installments there would not be any CVV, Billing address on card, Billing Zip, and obviously the payment method is not a credit card. The one that is a bit concerning is the IP not matching, 251 miles away. 

How would I even verify this information from the buyer? 

I have the phone number and address. The order was for about $198. 

Order was processed automatically, but should I fulfill, or how would I verify. 

So far this is what I have found, the phone number is not from that Zipcode. 

The address is a rental apartment.

But there is not much to go on... 

Any suggestions would be great about how to proceed with this High risk of fraud detected on Shop Pay Installments. 

[Nia]

Hi, @OurLifeStore!

The decision is ultimately up to you whether you should fulfill this order or not. We can only advise and provide you with guidelines you can follow.

You've mentioned that you've got the customers phone number and address. Have you tried to contact the customer to confirm details?

We have a great guide on steps you can take to help with your decision about fulfilling a High Risk Analysis order.

Fraud is not always a cut and dried answer so this can be challenging for sure, but this decision relies entirely on what you're comfortable with. As previously mentioned, definitely look into contacting the customer to verify the information you have on your side - listen out for any hesitation, uncertainty, incorrect information to determine whether the customer is being truthful.

For any future orders, if you would like another layer of protection outside the Risk Analysis, you can use the Fraud Filter app to create your own rules that would either flag or cancel an order.

[Beacon-Jason]

Hi @JustMeFrank ,

If it puts you at any ease, people who pay with Buy now Pay Later (BNPL) put you less at risk for a chargeback since you are not accepting the payment directly. This could and can change depending on the policy that Shop Pay decides to update. Otherwise, as @Nia has pointed out, giving a friendly phone call to have the customer confirm their order, isn't a bad idea if it puts you more at ease. Also, if the amount is higher than you're comfortable with losing then sometimes it's best to just cancel the order and move on. 

For additional resources, I also recommend you take a look at a past article I've written on additional things to check.  https://blog.lizuna.com/shopify-fraud-prevention-tips-here-are-five-things-you-need-to-look-at-to-pr...

[JustMeFrank]

Thank you for the feedback. 

I did communicate with the buyer and was able to obtain more information along with a copy of the driver's license to confirm the identity. I felt comfortable enough to fulfill the order. 

I had also previously reached out to customer service, which unfortunately can't give out much information on this to clarify some of the fraud alert warnings. 

I also tried to contact affirm, but you can only email them. 

I just wish when they gave out this alerts, there was a little more information as to their basis for the alert. But I guess due to privacy and all sorts of other concerns they can't. 

[Beacon-Jason]

@JustMeFrank 

Great to hear that you have resolved the issue! Just treat the high fraud alerts as a warning signal! Also, according to a Shopify staff who posted on Reddit, the fraud checks might be more lenient and the system is also known to misclassify orders.  

First, it's holiday season and so the system might use a different algorithm to be a bit more lenient on orders like that to prevent too many false negatives as many orders are gifts (I can only speculate on that since I'm not on the R&D team).

[404]

Got to watch - this is the new trending thing. They are figuring out the loop holes to the system. I'm about to make a post of my current issue that I found ... a loophole... and so far shopify doesn't seem to care too much. 

[Ariestabox]

I came across a similar type of fraud, but I do not exclude the fact that this person just wanted to take the goods by instalments, and the problem arose already in the bank itself. This may be the reason why you received a notification about a possible risk of fraud. That's why I usually only work with cash. And if you know what a cash advance is, you should not have any questions, because more often people take loans to buy any goods in cash. And also, when faced with unforeseen situations, it is always good to know that you have the opportunity to receive the cash advance.

[404]

Yes, understood. But if the system worked / coded the way a paypal payment is processed it wouldn't allow addresses to be changed to alternate ship to addresses. 

I understand what your saying - but you not reading between the lines. 

They take a loan - qualifying with their info - then change it. 

Don't you see the loop hole?   It just needs to be patched.