Apeldoorn, 29 oktober 2016
Blacklist for payment fraud in web shops
Under the name Fraudscore, consumer data supplier Matrixian Group is launching a check that allows web shops to screen customers for non-payment as well as register defaulters. The Fraudscore registry is registered with the Dutch Data Protection Authority with a notification number.
Collaboration of web shops for blacklist of defaulters launched.
Web shops can share data of defaulters and screen them. This has been happening for some time in other industries; health insurers, banks and telecom companies have had such collaborations for quite a while, whereby they exchange information about fraudsters and defaulters. The collaboration that is to be launched amongst web shops is both financially and socially important. Preventing persons and companies from entering into obligations for the use of goods and services they cannot fulfil or do not want to pay is sometimes also self-protection. For instance, people who are being curated cannot place an order themselves, but can do so when the administrator does so. Fraudscore wants to create a registration system for persons and businesses that have an outstanding claim with at least 3 associated web shops.
‘Payment fraud is part of the web shop business’
The different between default and fraud is not always clear. But one thing is certain: as they sometimes say, ‘fraud is part of the web shop business’. However, it is absurd that many web shops need to accept fraudulent customers because there are hardly any options for screening for online fraud. For an industry that will approach 18 billion in revenue this year, it is worrying that there is still no answer to this issue.
Estimates of the total scope of fraud vary from a hundred to several hundred million in fraud per year. One year ago, Zalando became the victim of online fraud for €18.5 million. Types of fraud vary from abuse of coupons, not paying when there is a later payment option, and products that are returned and tampered with.
According to Luke Liplijn, director of data company Matrixian Group, there is no real solution at the moment. ‘The Police launched the website mijnpolitie.nl a little while ago, so that buyers can be checked manually, but this has appeared to be insufficiently effective. Manually checking when you process thousands of orders per day is not an option, and mijnpolitie.nl only contains a small % of the fraudsters. The largest group of online fraudsters are not detected this way, and there is only a small chance of being caught, which stimulates organised crime,’ says Luke Liplijn.
Privacy
Matrixian Group has meanwhile filed a report with the Dutch Data Protection Authority. The protocols in which this data processing is elaborated strives for objective registration and takes things like retention periods of personal data into account. There also needs to be a disputes committee that can respond to any questions of involved parties and allow consumers to request data regarding their own registration(s).
