Every day, merchants are the victims of credit card fraud. As a merchant, you must constantly be on the lookout for a variety of fraud schemes. Whether you take card information by mail, telephone, Internet, or face-to-face, you must take action to guard against fraudulent transactions. Obtaining an authorization for each transaction is only the first step merchants need to take to protect them from fraud. An authorization only confirms the validity of a card number and expiration date and determines there are funds to cover the transaction, but it does not guarantee a sale from being fraud. You are on the front lines. A sale is a legal transaction between the merchant and the cardholder with the credit card issuer acting only as a financial clearing entity. Of all the parties involved with processing the sale, you have the most information about the sale at the time of the transaction. There are many tools available to you to minimize your risk of fraud. Common Fraud Schemes Data Security Standards Best Practices for Face-to-Face Transactions for Mail, Telephone or Internet Transactions Address Verification Service (AVS) 3-digit Security Code (CVV2 and CVC2)