Credit Card Anti-Fraud systems

reclusive46

How on earth do these fraud systems work? They don't seem to be doing a very good job.

I go to the same restaurant every 4 weeks and have done for the last year. I use my Amex every time. Yet almost every time it gets put through to authorisations but when I go abroad, I can buy something that is 400 dollars abroad (With a signature and not C&P) without even a single message from American Express.

How come this happens?

giblet10

Yes, I know what you mean - I don't have AMEX anymore but recall when I did that I could walk into PC World and buy a £1k+ laptop then check into a hotel and it would insist calling authorisations for a £50 pre-auth..

Sorry I can't answer but you're certainly not alone..

meer53

No-one will be able to give you an answer. Each card companies fraud detection system is set up using a large number of parameters. No two will be the same. It could be the type of retailer, the amount you're spending, which country the retailer is in, what type of goods they sell, whether there has been fraud at that retailer before, if the retailer attempts the transaction more than once triggering a check, whether you've used the retailer before, what the floor limit is for that particular retailer, and so on.

Best not to worry too much about it.

lawstudent

meer53 wrote: »

No-one will be able to give you an answer. Each card companies fraud detection system is set up using a large number of parameters. No two will be the same. It could be the type of retailer, the amount you're spending, which country the retailer is in, what type of goods they sell, whether there has been fraud at that retailer before, if the retailer attempts the transaction more than once triggering a check, whether you've used the retailer before, what the floor limit is for that particular retailer, and so on.

Best not to worry too much about it.

Thats very patronising. I would be worried about it if I kept having problems with my card.

meer53

lawstudent wrote: »

Thats very patronising. I would be worried about it if I kept having problems with my card.

Why would you worry ? Surely it shows that the system is working ? Fraud detection checks don't indicate you have a problem with your card, they indicate that a check is needed for the transaction to be authorised.

Why is my remark patronising ? Whats wrong with advising someone not to worry about something ? Something that is in place to protect them against fraud ? Worrying about something you have absolutely no control over seems a waste of time to me.

reclusive46

I've at least be fortunate so far that no one has ever even attempted to use any of my cards so far. Although I am very careful.

I wonder how quickly these systems learn.

jason1231972

Some are very sophisticated, as far as I can gather.

I recently got a call from Capital One:

C1: "Jason, did you just spend £1.79 on Yahoo Games [online]"
Me: "No!"
C1: "OK, we're declining the transaction, and will issue a new card within xx days"

I too have used the very same card abroad, on large purchases, etc., but that's 'in character' for me. Playing games online is not, even though the amount involved in the 'fraud' was trifling.

I can always count on Lloyds TSB calling me on my mobile the second I make an unusual transaction on my debit card (always genuine, so far).

Your experience at your regular restaurant is unusual (you'd think they'd get the picture by now), but I do find these mechanisms usually work quite well.

reclusive46

jason1231972 wrote: »

Some are very sophisticated, as far as I can gather.

I recently got a call from Capital One:

C1: "Jason, did you just spend £1.79 on Yahoo Games [online]"
Me: "No!"
C1: "OK, we're declining the transaction, and will issue a new card within xx days"

I too have used the very same card abroad, on large purchases, etc., but that's 'in character' for me. Playing games online is not, even though the amount involved in the 'fraud' was trifling.

I can always count on Lloyds TSB calling me on my mobile the second I make an unusual transaction on my debit card (always genuine, so far).

Your experience at your regular restaurant is unusual (you'd think they'd get the picture by now), but I do find these mechanisms usually work quite well.

Indeed. Maybe the restaurant has had a high amount of fraud or something no clue but Amex seem to be pretty good with other things. For example, when you make a transaction abroad the system checks to see if there are any hotel or air tickets. It even checks if you've paid for mobile phone service in another country.

But unfortunately that advanced system can't quite deal with me eating out

chattychappy

My travel patterns are pretty predictable. I have two places outside the UK and tend to go to exactly the same shops in the same locations. Overall I don't see much intelligence in the way antifraud systems work, but they obviously achieve something else they wouldn't be used.

I carry backups. If there's a decline or my card gets blocked then fine. I pull out another one or use cash.

It seems I've built up a profile of when/where my cards will get blocked more effectively than the CCs have profiled when/where I'll spend! That'll do for me.

I don't worry about it!

Plxply

Don't forget that it also needs to take into account your regular spending patterns. All of this has to happen in a less then a second to reply to the bank whether to say if the transaction is suspicious or not, any longer and customers/retailers will complain authorisation takes too long.

InsideInsurance

Also remember that merchants also act very different from each other as well as card companies.

There is no actual requirement for merchants to obtain authorisation for transactions, no requirement for them to use security measures and they dont have to put through transactions in realtime (as long as they don't store certain data elements).

Card companies look at all sorts of factors when deciding which transactions look genuine and which look questionable. I find it amusing that I can pay my Barclaycard and Amex bill fine each month but every single time I pay off my RBS card the transaction is declined due to fraud concerns