Card testing fraud is a common type of fraudulent activity that targets businesses and nonprofits. It typically involves criminals testing a large number of credit card numbers to determine which ones are active and valid. These cards can then be used to make purchases or sold for a higher price on the dark web.

Unlike manual testing, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, card testing is now often carried out automatically using computer scripts or botnets of compromised computers that can run thousands of transactions at once. These attacks can rack up thousands of dollars in transaction fees for merchants, and they can also lead to brand damage, chargebacks, and a huge tax on their time and resources.

The process of card testing starts with fraudsters obtaining a large number of stolen or deactivated card numbers from the dark web. They may do this by purchasing a list of card numbers from a hacker or by searching for stolen card numbers on the dark web themselves. Then they test these card numbers by making small payments or charges to see if they are still valid and active.

When card testing is successful, the fraudster will then attempt to use the credit card number for a purchase. This will reveal if the card is active and valid, which helps the fraudster determine if it is a good investment to purchase more cards or sell them on the dark web.

In order to avoid this, merchants can implement a few simple measures to protect themselves from card testing fraud. First, identify ongoing card testing by looking for declines and authorization failures from the same IP address or device ID. Next, set threshold limits for this IP address or device ID, which will allow you to block more than a certain amount of card testing attempts from the same IP address.

Limiting the number of cardWhat is a bin attack?  attacks is a great start, but it's important to consider broader measures as well. For example, you can install an AI-driven fraud prevention solution that integrates with your payment gateway to prevent all points of the customer journey where the card tester has access to your website or payment system. The solution should be able to quickly adjust to changing attack patterns and deliver obfuscation strategies that make it harder for bad actors to complete an attack.

Another way to mitigate card testing is by implementing a CRM that provides insights into suspicious behavior and customers' behaviors, such as a history of chargebacks and other fraud-related activities. This data should be seamlessly integrated with your payment gateway and anti-fraud tools to give you a 360-degree view of your customer's behavior.

It's also worth incorporating multiple safety measures into your strategy, including AVS, CVV matching, velocity checking, and IP monitoring. All of these safety measures can help to ensure that fraudsters are unable to conduct card testing attacks on your business or nonprofit.

Card testing fraud can be difficult to detect, so it's important to have a robust fraud solution in place that identifies and blocks it. This means that you need to be able to detect and react in milliseconds to signals of automated attacks, which can help you to avoid chargebacks, fraud fees, and more. The right solutions also offer a number of advanced features to protect your online store from card testing fraud, such as identity trust, adaptive AI, and global network protection.