The Bank of New Zealand is warning businesses to be wary of accepting online credit card payments from overseas following a string of fraud cases.
In four incidents last week, credit card merchants accepted overseas credit card payments via e-mail or the internet, only to discover the cards were stolen or
used without proper authority.
"These are standard textbooks scams and are not BNZ-specific," BNZ spokesman Hugh Kavanagh said.
"Most of the credit cards that are used prove to be drawn on American banks and are used without the legitimate cardholder's knowledge or authorisation."
Merchants should be particularly wary if they received an order that requested goods be shipped to a country where the products would normally be readily available.
Orders from Africa and Indonesia should be treated with most concern.
"If merchants are suspicious of a particular order, they should request the name of the cardholder's bank and the country in which the card was issued," Mr Kavanagh said.
"If the fraudster is not aware of the bank, it is likely that they will stop the order. It is also good practice to ask the cardholder to fax the front and back of their credit card, along with suitable identification, such as a driver's licence."
Advice was available from the BNZ website
- NZPA
