Internet Fraud. It’s a challenge.

Hello friends,

I’ve been dealing with a few orders that have come through our website here at Mission Repair that are suspect…

In today’s “order online” age of business, the potential for fraud orders is high; a criminal can hide behind a computer screen from anywhere in the world and try “everything in the book” to scam businesses out of their products.

Worried about online security? You should be. Fraud is on the rise, greatly impacting online business owners and their customers. We take your security very seriously investing in current and ongoing security-based infrastructures and to make sure our website (www.missionrepair.com) is fully PCI/CISP certified. All of this is dedicated to help protect you (and us!) from cyber criminals.

While we here at Mission Repair mostly provide services to our customers, we also sell parts and do it yourself repair kits for iPhones, iPods and tablets as well. There are many people that want to do this kind of work, so it just makes sense that we sell them the repair parts and tools that they need!

It’s pretty much a given that a fraud order here at Mission Repair will be for a product rather than a service. Other red flags that pop up for us are:

1. The customer will ship to a completely different address. Sometimes out of the country.
2. The shipping will be Overnight. They want to receive the product(s) fast.
3. The telephone number on file for the customer doesn’t match the geographic location of the billing address and typically is never answered.
4. The IP address of the customer doesn’t match the billing address. Yes, we capture everyone’s IP addresses upon order placement.
5. The orders are placed online rather than being called in.
6. The email address on file doesn’t particularly match the customer billing information. Typically, most people have SOMETHING in their email address that signifies that it’s them. Not always, but sometimes.
7. The order seems exceptionally large and high dollar.
8. We can see other previous attempts via our saved shopping carts of the same or similar orders with different credit cards.

While any ONE of these is typically never a red flag, when an order has ALL of the them, we take extra steps when we can to verify the order and ship or cancel when appropriate.

What typically happens is that the criminal obtains the victim’s credit card number and billing address – somehow – and then places an order online using the customer’s information. It’s then shipped to a different location. This way, the criminal gets the product(s) and is never to been seen again…while the innocent victim receives their credit card statement in the mail a couple of weeks later to see the bad news…fraudulent charges to businesses they they’ve never heard of! Yikes it’s scary.

Firstly, let me tell you that it’s safe to purchase off the Internet as long as you know that the site you’re using is secure. Like Mission Repair’s website. We are fully 100% PCI/CISP certified which means that we exceed industry standards in solidifying our hardware and hosting facilities. We pass inspection from an independent auditor who performs on-site assessments, and we complete a rigorous screening process to remain on credit card certified lists.

What is PCI? The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID) should be PCI compliant. Not sure? Ask the company you are buying from!!

We’re required to delete your credit card information from our databases and I’ve also gone a step further; your credit card information is blocked from all of my employees after it’s entered so all we can EVER read back to you is the last 4 digits after an order is placed. It’s just one more step to security and we are determined to keep you safe.

Why am I talking about all of this? well i just got a call from my Merchant asking me about an order that is under investigation for fraud, which sparked me to tell all of you that we take this criminal activity very serious. Remember that as a consumer you can call your credit card company at any time to dispute fraudulent credit card charges…and always check your statements. Just a little tip to keep the world going ’round.

Have a good day!

Best, Ryan

Correction: It’s Constructive Construction.

Hello friends-

When I say there’s construction going on at our Mission Repair Express location in Mission, Kansas…it’s true and it’s hit us hard today!

The streets are demolished and the safety cones are up. Please do be careful when you visit this location. It’s a bit of a bear especially since it also started raining today. Yikes, it’s kind of a mess.

But if you read my blog late last week, you might remember that this is constructive. The City of Mission is tearing out the old…and in with the new! We are getting new streets and sidewalks – it’s just our turn at Mission Repair Express. They knocked down all of the mature trees which bums me out a bit- but they are replanting with more trees than ever with with more planters and beauty than the city has ever seen. It’ll be a nice facelift to the City of Mission and a sign of the times. We just have to endure a few weeks of mud and muck.

Thank you for your loyalty to our business and to all of our locations. We are happy to have you, and we’re open normal business hours. I promise you won’t need a hard hat to get into the front door…stop on by and say hi!

Take care, Ryan