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Thread: Fraud Accounts

  1. #1
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    Fraud Accounts

    Over the past 3 or 4 days I have had people signing up for webhosting service. I am wondering what screening methods others are using to detect where they are fraud accounts or not.

    My reasons for thinking they are suspicious..

    The ip address was used to sign up more then one domain with separate accounts. 6 to be exact.

    The domain name information does not match what they used to sign up. Not even the same city. Same country though.

    Sign up are coming from China, Argentina, and Australia.
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  2. #2
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    http://maxmind.com is what we use. Solved the problem overnight.
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  3. #3
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    Already signed up for maxmind, but when you offer a free month with WHMCS it does not do a maxmind account check? WHMCS is working on a fix for this already.
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  4. #4
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    Take off the free month from the panel and give the a free domain or something else until WHMCS fix it.

    Just an idea!
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  5. #5
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    Just don't 'do free' anything, that'll cut down loads of potential problems.

    Better to have 2 real customers than 100 'free grabbers' - IMHO
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian-de-vie View Post
    Just don't 'do free' anything, that'll cut down loads of potential problems.

    Better to have 2 real customers than 100 'free grabbers' - IMHO
    That's even a better idea. No free anything. Maybe I will change my site too.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by HostYourIdea View Post
    That's even a better idea. No free anything. Maybe I will change my site too.
    Where do I send the bill/invoice for my 'non free advice' ?
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  8. #8
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  9. #9
    Max Mind fraud check is good. Usually, it's covers most, but do check email, billing address, whois, manually. If any doubt, just mail them to know the reason.

  10. #10
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    Use MaxMind minFraud and Telephone Verification. Filters 99.99% of fraudulent orders.

    Extremely cheap and affordable (~10 USD/m). You would definitely want to invest on this compared to being ripped off with charge-backs. You'll severely effect your reputation with your payment processor too.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by haaser View Post
    Already signed up for maxmind, but when you offer a free month with WHMCS it does not do a maxmind account check? WHMCS is working on a fix for this already.
    You're just giving a free month without any form of payment verification? Usually people would ask for at least $0.01 to get the payment details OR give the second month free.

    From the looks of it, the person that signed up is trying to do something. The last thing you want is for him to start mass spamming from every account. You should be very careful about what you offer and how you manage it.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by njoker555 View Post
    You're just giving a free month without any form of payment verification? Usually people would ask for at least $0.01 to get the payment details OR give the second month free.

    From the looks of it, the person that signed up is trying to do something. The last thing you want is for him to start mass spamming from every account. You should be very careful about what you offer and how you manage it.
    Yes, offering a free month of hosting without getting something, such as a setup fee, or the second month, is just dangerous. Not only that, but even if you have a customer who's honest about their billing information, if you offer one month free with no strings, then the customer can simply hop to the next freebie, and so on, and so on. Bottom line: you're in business to make money. Attract new customers by offering attractive deals, yes, but give away the farm? No.

    Free months without strings is a losing proposition in the business world. We're all for offering customers premiums-- we offer several coupon codes on hosting and our other services-- but neither do we want to be taken advantage of, or worse yet, used as a mule for evil spammers and phishers, which is precisely what you'll get if you throw free hosting around with no strings, IMHO.

  13. #13
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    How about having the second or third month free instead?
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  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Hydro_Host View Post
    How about having the second or third month free instead?
    Sure, but the key is to get money up-front. Letting someone have the keys without any sort of a down payment is pretty much asking for kiddies, spam/phishing accounts, or freebie hoppers. No good can come of it.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by nightshadowpro View Post
    Sure, but the key is to get money up-front. Letting someone have the keys without any sort of a down payment is pretty much asking for kiddies, spam/phishing accounts, or freebie hoppers. No good can come of it.
    Indeed. This is why I never offer the first month free. When I do such offers I always do it the second or third month free. So they pay for the first and second month then I issue the next free.
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  16. #16
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    I would like to give my one vote for maxmind. It is definitely helpful in fraud checking of orders.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    The problem offering free anything is it cheapens your service.

    Good customers understand value, offering 2 months discount on a 12 month plan is smart and encourages long term signups, offering upfront free / no money down / no risk anything is crazy insane. Why did you go into business? To make money or give spammers an easy way in?

    Rarely, genuine long term customers, will come from the freebie sector, valuable customers are not looking for cheap and easy - they are looking for consistent quality and are willing to pay if the value is there. I would never sign up for any server offering free services, would you?

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