5 Ways to Protect Your Business Against Fraud this Holiday Season 

Nothing has the power to ruin holiday cheer quite like a scam. Fraud and scams tend to increase during the last couple of months of the year—but knowledge is power, and with the help of Podium and the right protections in place, you can save your business a lot of unnecessary time, money, and energy during the holiday season and beyond. 

5 Tips to Avoid Fraud this Holiday Season

Most people aren’t experts where fraud and scams are concerned—it’s the reason some fraudsters are successful. As a busy business owner, staying up-to-date with common scams is likely just one bullet point on your never-ending to-do list. 

Luckily, the Podium Risk team did the work so you don’t have to—we made a list and checked it twice. Here are five tips to protect your business from being affected by questionable buyers this holiday season.  

1. Ask for a Photo ID 

To better protect your business from credit card fraud, we recommend requesting a photo ID at the time of purchase. Especially for high-risk activities like high-dollar transactions that could potentially cause harm to your business. If you’re doing this through Podium, we recommend using secure chat for collecting ID pictures.

2. Verify Abnormally Large Orders 

While not every large order is cause for concern, a customer making an abnormally large order could be an error or possibly fraud. If you see an order that doesn’t look quite right, it’s best to contact the customer to ensure that this order is correct. 

The quickest way to do this? We’d recommend using Podium to fire off a quick text. Here’s a template you can use:

“Hey :customer_name:! This is :employee_name: from :business_name:. I saw that you placed an order for :product: that totaled :order_value: and I wanted to verify that the order was intentional. Respond here to let me know so I can get that shipped to you ASAP! Happy holidays!”

3. Be Wary of Questionable Payment Methods 

A customer trying to pay with a wire transfer, reloadable card, or pre-paid gift card may be an indication that the individual is attempting to commit fraud. These types of payment methods are often used by scammers to avoid being able to be traced or tracked down. 

We’re not saying you should avoid taking pre-paid gift card payments. But to ensure you’re protected, we’d recommend using our fraud prevention software that will weed out fraudulent payment attempts. Additionally, avoid accepting payments from a gift card you don’t recognize—if it looks different than the gift cards you typically see, it could be a fake.

If you’re a Podium customer, feel free to reach out to the Podium Support team to learn more about our fraud prevention software.

4. Limit the Number of Cards Used per Transaction

A customer using multiple credit cards to complete a transaction may be an indicator of fraudulent activity. Watch for customers attempting more than three cards before successfully completing a payment or asking to split up a transaction into small amounts across multiple cards. The customer could be attempting multiple stolen card numbers to find one that works or purposefully keeping a transaction on a certain card below an alert level for the transaction dollar amount.

To avoid this kind of fraudulent attempt, we recommend keeping an eye out for customers breaking up a transaction over several cards. Additionally, ensure that the name on the cards being used is consistent. 

5. Make Cybersecurity a Priority 

Fraudsters are experts at getting their hands on sensitive information. In our digital age, it’s crucial that you practice computer safety by setting up strict password protocols, being picky about who has access to what data, and being wary of suspicious links and emails. 

Want more information about computer security? Check out the FCC’s guide to cybersecurity.

I Think a Transaction is Fraudulent—What now?

The tips above will help you avoid fraud, but what happens if you run into a transaction that seems fraudulent? 

If you’re a Podium customer and have questions or concerns about a transaction, please do not hesitate to contact Podium’s Customer Support team or your Podium Customer Success Manager—our team is here to help your business stay safe. 

Happy Holidays from the Podium Risk Team

As Podium’s Risk team, we work tirelessly to protect your business from fraud. We hope these tips bring you peace of mind this holiday season and beyond.