Hi there,
I was just wondering what the general opinion about not accepting customers with free email accounts is... would this be bad for business??? Obviously it is good for eliminating a large percentage of fraud, but will it also deter a lot of customers...

Yes, it would be bad in certain case. But you can still accept orders, you can probably request a photocopy of their driver's licence and the front and back of their CC.

We don't accept orders with emails from yahoo or hotmail. While maybe 50% of them are legit., everybody has a "real" email address provided by their ISP. If they don't want to tell you what that "real" email address is, they are probably trying to scam you.

There are sooooooo many ways to obtain an anon email address these days that I hate to just block the most popular which are the most popular because there are soo many people using them for legitimate reasons ....

My favorite is still the phone number. I can quickly and easily do a call back and the phone number itself gives us a great deal of information concerning where the person is ...

You have a higher chance of blocking a valid order than an invalid one by blocking an anon email address and you still leave a wide open door by accepting the hundreds of other anon email addys available. (this became huge when places such as bigmailbox.com allowed every domain name to offer anon emails)

The goal is to make the order process as simple as possible for the valid customer.... Requiring too much will cost you a sale...requiring too little will cost you in fraud fees.

My favorite "simple method" is using the phone number as one of the focal points. You have a much less chance of getting a fraud order if you call back.

Require a phone number...and use the phone number to confirm the order.... if it's fraud they're blooming idiots to give you a valid phone number since that helps to define their location. If they give you an invalid phone number (usually the case) then you'll call back and the person that answers the phone is likely to tell you they haven't a clue what you are talking about and you'll know it's fraud before going any further. If it's valid on the other hand..it's a chance for you to thank the person for the order.

The phone number is just one piece of the puzzle but I think it's a stronger piece than the anon email address is.

Deb, (et al.) you have convinced me to require a phone number and do call-backs on new orders. I have had zero problems with credit card fraud, but it's only a matter of time I'm sure. Like you said, it'll either prove fraud, or be a great opportunity to warm-fuzzy the customer and offer to answer any questions they have. I would assume a host that calls back would be welcomed. :)

Oh my gosh! I'm a Junior Guru Wannabe now! I have so many people to thank! Around 30 I suppose...

We used to require a "Real" email address, but as mentioned above,, there are so many free ones now that it is almost impossible to tell without checking each orders email as to what the domains site is.

It is best to give the customer a call, and verify they just ordered hosting. Tell them you are verifying orders to reduce credit card fraud.

They will thank you for it.
If they didn't order,, they will still thank you... because some fool gave their card number and all their info... they can quickly call in their stolen card. It is a Win Win situation !!!

Then, take a couple minutes to see if they have any questions. They will host with you for quite a while, so a couple bucks is worth the effort, and remember,,, a charge back will cost you the money from the order, and a $25 buck fee for your trouble. A double wammy... Not enough... your bank may charge you another processing fee to send the money back to the card company! Ours dose!

Still thinking those phone calls are costly ?
go back to the top, and read again.

They will make you more then they will ever cost you. Worried about the upfront phone bill,,, get your LD through opex - 4.9 cents a minute anytime. ( half off of what our sprint bill used to be)

Tim L :cool:

A lot of people don't want to use their ISP's email.

Free email services like Hotmail and Yahoo are easier for for many and can be accessed anywhere easily.

I agree to be cautious but to exclude them is bad for business.

I use a web based email account (not hotmail or yahoo) when I order stuff on the web. Mostly because if my computer goes haywire (which it likes to do) - and I end up reformating, I still have all my account info still tucked away safely - and I don't have to have my host or whoever else email the information back to me.

That's the other story about a person using an anon email account.

Giving people that simple phone call also gives
them that warm fuzzy feeling that PEOPLE(!) actually
work at the company! Instead of thinking they
just punched the info in and some guy is sitting on a beach
runs the company.
Plus its also a good way to sell stuff like cc processing,
shoping cart software, any goodies!

--Brad

The problem is that many credit fraud cases occur from the Third Party mail services. I have gotten at least two fraudulent orders from Hotmail addresses but they were both detected by E-Falcon. Many hosts are resorting to such services to protect against fraud losses.

I use the Hotmail and Yahoo accounts when I buy things too. Seems like they always end up on Spammers list soon afterwards. Why pollute my ISP mail with Spam?

I agree with Deb, you lose more customers then you prevent from fraud. Besides, if someone wants to signup fraudulently - they will.

Many of our customers are using anonymous e-mails and it was ok till now :)

I registered with my host with a free email account just because in the last year I've had 2 ISDN providers and 1 DSL provider for ISPs. My free emai will still be valid next year after another couple of ISPs