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Shipping Internationally

Your potential for loss increases substantially when shipping products internationally because you don't have the same protections as when you ship products within the USA. International crime rings are asking unsuspecting Americans to ship products to foreign countries and providing stolen and fraudulent credit cards to pay for the purchases. You are liable for these transactions, and may be left paying for products that you'll never see again.

  1. What can I do to lower my risk of fraud when shipping overseas?
  2. What are some indications of potential fraudulent transactions?
  3. Are there countries with higher rates of fraud than others?
  4. What is the fee for chargebacks?
  5. What if I have multiple chargebacks?
  6. What should I do if I receive a chargeback?
  7. Does ProPay provide fraud protection insurance or escrow services?

1. What can I do to lower my risk of fraud when shipping overseas?

Your best line of defense is to know your customer. When selling products internationally, sell only to buyers in countries you trust and use the Credit Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) or the CID to validate the cards you do accept.

Physical evidence of the cardholder's identity and proof that he or she has physical possession of the card will give you the most protection in an overseas transaction. Ask the buyer to mail or fax you an original signed invoice. Do not ship the merchandise until you receive these documents. Use a shipping option that requires the recipient to sign for the package.

However, we strongly recommend that you only ship product within the USA, and only to addresses that return positive AVS codes.

If you are found to be carelessly selling products to overseas customers, we may hold your funds, increase reserve levels, or close your ProPay Account.

( see our Payment Services Agreement )

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2. What are some indications of potential fraudulent transactions?

You should always be on the look-out for potential fraud. Indications of fraudulent transactions include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The order is for a large number of the same item.
  • The transaction is for an unusually large amount, much more than you would normally process.
  • The person says it is his or her credit card, but wants the product shipped overseas to a friend or family member.
  • The buyer is unwilling to provide you with additional contact information.

If there is anything suspicious about a particular transaction, you may choose to obtain additional verification from the cardholder, or to simply not process the card.

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3. Are there countries with higher rates of fraud than others?

Several countries seem to have higher rates of fraud than others. These countries are as follows:

Indonesia
Nigeria
Ghana
South Africa
Netherlands
Ukraine
Yugoslavia
Lithuania
Egypt
Romania
Australia
Belarus
Bulgaria
Turkey
Russia
Pakistan
Malaysia

We strongly encourage you not to ship product to any of these countries.

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4. What is the fee for chargebacks?

A non-refundable chargeback fee of $15.00 applies for each chargeback that occurs.

Chargebacks occur much more frequently on overseas transactions.

The chargeback fee will apply even if the chargeback is re-presented successfully and is reversed.

More information about chargebacks

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5. What if I have multiple chargebacks?

Multiple chargebacks, or a pattern of chargebacks, can be grounds for termination of your ProPay Account at our discretion.

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6. What should I do if I receive a chargeback?

If you receive a chargeback, first contact your customer to determine what the reason was for the chargeback.

Next, contact resolutions@propay.com to let us know what happened with your customer and inquire about what to do next.

Usually your customer will contact his or her card-issuer to let them know that it was his or her error and to reprocess the charge.

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7. Does ProPay provide fraud protection insurance or escrow services?

ProPay does not provide any insurance or escrow services. We provide tools that you can use to protect yourself against fraudulent transactions (AVS and CVV2/CID), but we do not provide any fraud-protection guarantee.

As a merchant, it is your responsibility to document your transactions and to verify your customers' information (including the customers' addresses using AVS and cards using CVV2/CID) as you process transactions.

AVS will verify how close the address entered matches the address on file at the card-issuing bank. If a customer gives you a shipping address that returns a poor AVS match, this could be an indication of possible fraudulent activity. Likewise, a customer who says he or she is in, for example, Ohio, asking you to ship to Indonesia, this would be another red flag. The CVV2 is a good indicator that your customer has the card in his or her possession.

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