Merchant Newsletter - July 15, 2006

Imprinters and Accessories!


The age-old and infinitely valuable Imprinter!


 
Scam artists can make quick work of phone fraud with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which delivers voice calls quickly and cheaply, using the same technology that delivers e-mail via the Internet. It's easy to set up a VoIP account with a provider online today and set up an interactive voice response system. These can pop up as quickly in the future as spoofed banking sites are appearing today. Meanwhile, most people are far more likely to trust a phone number than an e-mail.

In some cases, fraudsters use what's known as a war dialer to make one call after another to a host of phone numbers in a given region. People who answer the calls are told that their credit card has been subject to fraudulent activity and instructed to call a different number to verify an account, and give up key data. This takes advantage of what has become a normal practice for credit-card users.

Don't give out your information to unknown sources. Whenever you need to call someone, such as a banker, who would ask you for verification of personal information, make sure you got that phone number from an official directory, card statement, or the back of your credit card.

Your best bet, if ANYONE calls YOU, and wants personal, credit card, or social security info (including things like your mother's maiden name, or the name of your first pet) is to ask the name of the company or bank, and tell them you will call them right back.  Look up the phone number, or call 411 and return the call.  Remember: if they give you a long story why you cannot call them back... IT IS PROBABLY FRAUD!


"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." (Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943)

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." (Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)

"The telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union internal memo, 1876)

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" (Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927)

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899) 




An imprinter can be a powerful addition for our mobile merchants! It gives you a backup should you lose or break your phone, and it can protect you against fraud for high ticket sales, or when you feel the sale is "sketchy" (like when someone wants your most expensive item without looking at it).

What the card associations don't want you to know (Visa, MasterCard), is there has been changes in card regulations due to some recent litigations.  These changes can mean a great deal to you, the merchant!  Basically, if you follow the proper steps, and get the required backup from each sale, you can prevent the loss of your funds if the sale is charged back due to fraud!

How does this all work?  Starting the first of this year, if a merchant swipes a transaction and receives an authorization, imprints the card, and the transaction comes back for fraud, the card issuer has to take the loss and not the merchant.  The card issuer must do a chargeback so they can deduct the loss as a business loss, but the card issuer must refund the merchant the original charge.  The chargeback fees are still absorbed by the merchant, but at least there are not out their merchandise and money.

The imprinter is the key to this procedure.  You must imprint the card, and fill out the sales slip with the amount, date (Very Important), and authorization code (which HAS to come from a swipe - voice or phone authorizations don't work for this).

The imprinter has to have a merchant plate with your correct merchant name and number, so we have stocked up on desktop and portable imprinters that have a spot for a merchant plate.   To order an imprinter, click here, and to order a merchant plate, click here. (a merchant plate is a little dog tag-like piece of metal with your name and merchant number stamped on it, so it gets embossed on the sales slip along with the credit card data



This amazing Micro-UV “black” light is perfect for spotting those fake credit cards, counterfeit currency, or any other item that has Ultra Violet (UV) properties. Simply push the button on the side of the light and a bright blue UV light is emitted. Small enough for our mobile merchants to take anywhere!

This amazing Micro-UV “black” light is perfect for spotting those fake credit cards, counterfeit currency, or any other item that has Ultra Violet (UV) properties.

Use the Micro-UV light to check new US currency. All new bills produced except the $1 bill have a security strip imbedded into them. Each strip is coated with special UV ink that turns a different color when subjected to UV light: 
Accept Credit Cards Anywhere!

$100 Red 
$ 50 Yellow 
$ 20 Green 
$ 10 Orange 
$ 5 Blue

Simply shine the light behind the strip to ensure that the bill has the correct color.
Accept Credit Cards Anywhere

Use the Micro-UV light to check credit cards. All major credit cards have letters or an image printed on the front of the card in UV ink. Most fake credit cards DON’T HAVE any UV printing

The handy Micro-UV light has a spring-released clip that will allow you to put this light on a chain or lanyard and place it right at each register, or you can keep it in your pocket, for use with our PDA based solutions.  This inexpensive and simple to use tool can save you hundreds of dollars as soon as you start using it.

ORDER FREE MERCHANT MATERIALS HERE!!!

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