3-D Secure (3-Domain Secure), also known as Payer Authentication is a security protocol to reduce fraud in online credit and debit card transactions. At present, this service is offered by Visa and MasterCard under the name Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode respectively.
Payer Authentication is a three party process. The parties involved are: the vendor, the acquirer (the bank that processes the payment) and the card issuers (i.e. Visa or MasterCard).
Indicators for fraudulent activity
First-time shopper: Criminals are always looking for new victims. They usually hit a merchant once and don't go back a second or third time.
Larger-than-normal orders: Because stolen cards or account numbers have a limited life span, crooks need to maximise the size of their purchases. Of course, the size of "normal" orders vary from merchant to merchant.
Orders consisting of several of the same item: Having multiples of the same item increases criminals' profits.
Orders made up of big-ticket items: These items have maximum resale value and therefore maximum profit potential.
Orders shipped "rushed" or "overnight": Crooks aren't concerned about extra delivery charges. They want their fraudulently obtained items as soon as possible for the quickest possible resale.
Orders from Internet addresses at free email services: These services have no billing relationships with their users, which in turn means no audit trail or verification that a legitimate cardholder has opened the account.
Multiple shipping addresses: In specific fraud scenario, multiple transactions are charged to one card or similar cards that have a single billing address but multiple shipping addresses. This situation could be a sign of some organised activity, rather than one individual at work.
Multiple cards from a single IP address: The Internet Protocol (IP) address identifies the computer in a network from which an order has been made. In this instance, fraud indicators may include multiple orders using different names, addresses, and card numbers, but coming from one IP address.
Multiple transactions with one credit card. Another fraud indicator may be if multiple transactions are made with one single card in a short period of time.
Inconsistencies: Information in the order details, such as billing and shipping address mismatch, telephone area codes falling near zip codes, email addresses that do not look legitimate, and irregular time of day when the order was placed.