Merchant Newsletter - February 5, 2005

AMSI Offers Extended Support!




Extended support for our software and hardware!

Fraud Warning! We have been alerted that there is a new scam we should all be aware of, as it can fool the AVS (Address Verification System), and allow a shipment to a fraudulent address!  It works on 3 facts:  1) The cardholder name is not verified by the processors.  2) AVS checks only the Numeric portion of the address (Street misspellings are too common), and the ZIP.  3) Web site order pages have an "Address 2" line for suite or apartment numbers.  

Here is how it works:
Assume that the VALID (Stolen) cardholder data is:

Name Jim Shoes
Address 1234 Main Street
CSZ Irvine, CA 92301

The Fraudster enters the order this way:

Name Fred Fraudster
Address 1234 Purchase Order
Address2 4534 West Carlisle Way
CSZ Irvine, CA 92301

Wow, AVS says the numeric portion of the address matches, as does the Zip code.  The delivery company will assume the first line is just a purchase order number, and will deliver to the address on line 2!  The fraudster could even enter a city and state in a different zip code, knowing most delivery services will "correct" the zip code if the delivery address is in the specified city and state!

  What can I do to protect myself?  First, be glad you know about it, and then make sure you look at the "Address2" line of each and every order!  If it appears to be a deliverable address, beware!

  A USB solution for PC's and Laptops with both printer and swiper!  Our newest product bundle fills a request we get too often:  How can I get Pocket Merchant to work on my laptop?  Almost all new laptops are built with no serial ports, and the Pocket Merchant is a serial device!  After testing many of the USB to Serial converters, we found one that worked on every system we could try, and it was from a trusted vendor, Cables-to-Go.com.  We have purchased a quantity of these, and are bundling it with the Pocket Merchant, and our Flagship PC software, PC Verifier.  Normally the package would cost $437 (Pocket Merchant at $299, PC Verifier at $99, and USB to Serial Adapter at $39), but we are offering the bundle at only $337 - WOW - a $100 savings!   You can order it by clicking here.  Now your wireless laptop or PC can accept credit cards anywhere!

  Get famous!  We have received many glowing letters and emails, but due to our privacy and confidentiality policies, we cannot use or publish them without express permission.  If you have a story, picture, or interesting use for our products, send them in, (with your permission) and we will publish them here, or place them on our web site!  Send your submissions to merchant@merchantanywhere.com There WILL be a prize for best and funniest submission, to be announced in a future newsletter!

You can now generate a trouble ticket that we monitor on evenings and weekends! This support is PRIMARILY via email, but you can include a phone number where you can be reached.  This support is for our software and hardware packages only, billing and transactional problems are handled at the toll free number you were sent upon approval.  Response times can range from minutes to hours, depending on the time and day of submission.  Click here to see the trouble ticket entry form.

Download our FREE Toolbar for instant access to Transaction Central to Enter Sales, Void a Sale, Issue Credits, Get Reports and more!  You also get access to our Free Software Upgrades,  Weekly Newsletter Library,  New Products,  Bargain Basement, and Order Supplies!  

In addition, our Toolbar will:

  • Get rid of those annoying popup ads.
  • Search the Web and other resources directly from your toolbar.
  • Learn about Web sites including traffic information and contact info.
  • Surf more efficiently with Related Links for each page.
  • Share opinions about sites with other users.

A Treo 650 for only $329??  One of our merchants called us with this deal.  If you are a business (and all of our merchants are), and you have a Federal EIN (which you can get online), Sprint's Business Web site has this special: (if you go to a Sprint store, you better print the page and bring it with you- they might not believe it!). 



MerchantAnywhere.com reaches the top 25,000! Our 3-month rolling average just crossed the 25K barrier, making us one of the top sites in the world.  You can see our traffic rating at Alexa.com, or with our new ToolBar!

The total number of web sites is constantly growing, but as of as of October 2002 there were over 21,200,000 dot-com registrations, for example, along with 3.6 million dot-net registrations, 740,000 dot-biz, 80,000 dot-name, 920,000 dot-info and around 2.3 million dot-orgs.  When you realize that major corporations (like HP, Dell, MSN) are HUGE, you can see that the top 25K is a very tough club to join!

If you can't remember that crazy URL to enter my transactions, we don't blame you.  We hear that a LOT. So, to help our merchants remember, we now have created the convenient:
  www.EnterTransactions.com
which is certainly easier to remember!  It will take you to Transaction Central, and gives us a spot to alert you to critical hardware and software updates as well!

                  Sprint Treo 300 with Pocket Merchant  and Pocket Verifier software lets you accept credit cards anywhere!
Merchants using the Treo series PDA's
in the field now have an added feature!  We have found a program that lets you use your Treo and USB Sync cable as a wireless modem on yout PC or laptop!  Maybe not a good idea if you are on the "pay-by-the-kilobyte" plan, but if you are on an unlimited plan, it gives you more use for the buck!  Take a peek at their website, this is not an endorsement, and we take no responsibility for your use of this program (legal disclaimer), but it is pretty cool, and I have talked to people who use it.  Read the disclaimers on their site as well, some carriers have low data plan pricing on Treo's as they know you cannot do too much surfing on a small screen. 


Click Here to order FREE Merchant Materials from VISAtm

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Copyright (c) 2004 Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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