Collaborative Fraud Prevention Is the Future – and Trust Is Key

Darryl Green is Chief Governance Officer (Co-Founder) and Executive Director at Ethoca

Beyond legal compliance: what it takes to be worthy of trust

I can’t stand privacy law.

Not for the reasons you might think are obvious for someone in my position (i.e. we can’t do what we want with impunity). I dislike it for what it represents and what it could, and in some cases appears to, be evolving into.

The fact is, I’m very much against doing what we want with impunity. At Ethoca, we are experts at fraud detection involving card-not-present transactions. We ask our partners, members and, ultimately, consumers to trust us with something very valuable (their credit card transaction data). We have a responsibility to earn that trust every single day. The concept of respecting and securing that data has to, and does, permeate every decision we make and every action we perform. The gravity of that trust lives in every employee of Ethoca and is deeply ingrained in the culture of our organization. Replacing these obligations with a regulatory compliance regime is both inefficient and distorting.

Taking responsibility

First, some brief background so you know my personal bias: I’ve studied law and worked briefly as a lawyer before finding the joy of entrepreneurship. I have, over the years, come to the conclusion that nearly all law can be summarized as, “Don’t be a dick.”

Of course, you need a little more granularity than that. If I ever ran for public office on a platform of legal simplification, I would suggest that there be laws against dickness in the first, second and third degree, and against unintentional dickness for those who have not thought about the consequences of their actions. Any more granular than that and you start to run into problems. (I may be exaggerating to make a point, but stay with me.)

Trying to create a regulatory regime to deal with an issue replaces, “I shouldn’t be a dick” with, “do I comply with regulations.” And since it’s impossible to draft regulations that contemplate all current contingencies, let alone contingencies arising from future innovation, it leaves individuals and corporations the ability to be dicks as long as they are regulatory compliant.

In fact, they may not even think about the consequences of their actions anymore, assuming that either the regulators will have contemplated the outcomes, or the outcomes don’t matter so long as I follow the rules. This is particularly problematic where those who work in the regulated industry are more informed and less conflicted than those drafting the regulation. There are examples of that all over the recent financial crisis, but that is not the subject of this discussion.

Now, back to Ethoca and privacy regulation:

In our first drafts of how we would develop the Ethoca architecture and operate the Ethoca service, we did not call legal counsel. We knew that caring for the data we were being entrusted with meant that we would have to respect it, secure it, and provide access to it in a way that wouldn’t allow it to be abused. We knew that we would have to watch over the data to ensure its quality. We knew that we would need a mechanism for members and consumers to dispute the data in the event of a misunderstanding.

We found codes of practice that helped us to define what that meant, specifically, the AICPA Privacy Framework, now called the AICPA Generally Accepted Privacy Principles. We engaged top-tier consultants to help us develop and implement the practices befitting the responsibility we expected to take on. In short, we took our responsibility extremely seriously. This was in part driven by our internal ethics, but was also required by anyone we wanted to add as members. We held ourselves accountable, and those we were doing business with were holding us accountable. Ah, if only the world could work this way in all contexts.

Enter the lawyers

The time came to get the regulatory analyses for the jurisdictions in which we contemplated doing business. These included most significantly the US, the UK, Ireland and Canada. This cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. (I wish I were exaggerating here to make a point.)  I’m happy to say that it didn’t result in our having to change much of anything in relation to our operation. The work we had done just trying to be responsible took us well beyond what was required simply from a regulatory compliance standpoint. In a follow-up blog post I will summarize our findings from each jurisdiction and more detailed discussion is available from us for anyone contemplating joining Ethoca’s Global Fraud Alliance.

In general though, if you know nothing more than this about privacy law, as it relates to private enterprise, you are 90 percent of the way there: People have to be given the opportunity to agree to and know how their data is being used, they have to have the ability to inquire about and correct any mistakes in the data, and those holding the data have to safeguard the data with due care.

The final word

I’ve been a little glib here. Unfortunately, regulation is required where there is an imbalance of power as there is with respect to data. Consumers tend not to band together in a cohesive group, and the ability to abuse data that a company has been entrusted with would tempt some to make use of it for purely self-serving ends. However, the regulation should be minimal to meet the objectives highlighted above. In some jurisdictions I’m starting to see regulation that seems more like empire-building-through-bureaucracy than a regime meant to serve the needs of individuals.  Clearly, any regulation that would make it unworkable or uneconomical to help consumers and merchants avoid being victimized by fraud would have slipped over that line.

Darryl Green is one of the co-founders in Ethoca. He has degrees in Law, Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario/Ivey School of Business. He started in the internet industry in 1999 with Tucows Inc. where he participated primarily in Business and Corporate Development activities. He worked there until co-founding Ethoca in 2005. Darryl is responsible for financial and regulatory compliance for Ethoca and, as with all the founders, is active in Ethoca’s Business Development. He tends to prefer free market solutions over government regulation and is big big fan of transparency and candor.

Fear of Online Credit Card Fraud Shrinks Pool of Good Customers

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission estimates that six times as much revenue is lost to "fear of fraud" as to actual fraud

How making online shopping safer means a more profitable online environment for all

Beyond the total cost of fraud you may face today, there is an even bigger challenge: many potential customers are afraid to buy online. They don’t think it’s safe.

In fact, six times as much revenue is lost each year to fear of fraud than to actual fraud, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

That number is consistent with surveys and research by other organizations as well. VeriSign says half of Internet users avoid buying online, for fear of their financial information being stolen. And of those who have been victims of fraud:

• 12% don’t shop online any longer
• 25% shop less frequently
• 19% spend less when they do shop online

And according to figures from a CyberSource 2009 survey:

• 71% of consumers are concerned with the level of risk when shopping over the web, an increase of 5% over 2008
• 24% of consumers (the largest grouping of answers) say it is merchants’ responsibility to make online shopping safe

Making online shopping safer -- It's within your control

Trust seals can and do increase the perception of safe shopping for many. They, however, can only go so far, and with constant media attention paid to massive data security breaches such as those perpetrated against Heartland Payment Systems, TJ Maxx, Hannaford Supermarkets and many others, not to mention the myriad tales of unscrubbed and unprotected data on used hard drives, archival tapes full of social security numbers and other personally identifiable information falling off the back of trucks, consumers are rightly fearful that no matter what they or merchants do to protect their data, there are weak links in the security chain that put them at risk.

In fact, there are 3 elements to making Internet shopping not only as safe as it can be, but truly the safest form of shopping. First, merchants need to implement proper security precautions, especially PCI compliance. Second, compliance needs to be regulated and certified (and advertised by the accompanying trust marks). Finally, merchants need to ensure that in the event security is breached, that minimal harm comes to the consumer. The best way to do that is through collaboration with other merchants, as well as card issuers, fraud vendors, payment service providers - in fact, all the stakeholders in ecommerce.

The Global Fraud Alliance is that third and critical piece in making internet shopping safer. It provides a shield against misuse of breached and compromised data, by enabling merchants to gain insight into each other's payment experiences in real time, without compromising the privacy or security of their data.

Ethoca has recently made a very important contribution to safe shopping by making Ethoca360 Negative Signals freely available to any merchant that signs up for service during the introductory period. And, not just free to sign up, but free forever. Merchants need only apply and start actively using the service during the introductory period to ensure this lifetime benefit. This service is also being made available through partners such as 41^st Parameter's FraudNet technology, GB Group's URU identity service, and the IMRG ISIS (Internet Shopping Is Safe) program. This network is rapidly growing to include other payment service providers and fraud merchants, and in the very near future will include many other in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and throughout Europe. 

A safer online environment means a more profitable online environment

The more merchants collaborating against fraud, the safer the Internet will be, and the more customers will shop online.

Doing your part is simple, and most importantly, it will start saving you money right away, no matter what fraud tools or services you already use. That's because Ethoca360 Negative Signals is designed to be an additive service, compatible with all 3^rd party offerings. This is simply smart business for members of the Global Fraud Alliance. Increasing the consumers willingness to shop online means more business for everyone.

We invite you to join.

2010 Merchant Risk Council (MRC) Annual Conference -- Observations, Thoughts and Conclusions

After a whirlwind few days in Las Vegas last week at the annual MRC conference, I'm back in my office catching up and thinking about all that happened.  Having had a few days to reflect, I thought I would share some of my learnings from this year's conference.

To put my thoughts in perspective, this year's conference was very significant for Ethoca. We announced perhaps our biggest news ever: that we are offering a free card-not-present fraud detection service, and have begun accepting merchant applications for participation. (The application process is simply to ensure that we are protecting the integrity of Global Fraud Alliance data, and only letting legitimate online merchants in). A subset of Ethoca360 Signals (itself a newly announced service), we are offering the Negative Signals part at no charge forever as an introductory opportunity for merchants who sign up now.

Free Forever is a Big Deal 

The free service is a big deal for Ethoca, because for the first time ever, it makes large scale collaboration possible in the fight against fraud by removing the most significant barrier to participation, namely price. Now the question becomes, if you can identify potential fraud by leveraging the bad payment experiences of fellow merchants, why wouldn't you?

We decided to make the Negative Signals service free forever for merchants who join now to accelerate much broader collaboration. Our thinking is that by giving away a high value production-grade service, many more merchants, payment processors and fraud solutions providers will jump in quickly, thus boosting the value to everyone, and that our upgrade service to full Ethoca360 Signals would also grow quickly and more than pay for what we give up by making Negative Signals free.

Besides, it just feels right to make this kind of collaborative information freely available as a community service. With the strong positive reaction we got from merchants, payment service providers (PSPs), card issuers, and fraud workbench/platform providers, we're confident that this is the right move at the right time.

A Highly Succcessful Conference

Having missed last year's conference due to my sister getting married in Mexico during the same week, I was pleased to accept credit () from Tom Donlea for boosting registrations to this year's conference by 20% by deciding to come back. OK, so maybe my return only boosted the total increase in attendance by one, but perhaps Ethoca sponsoring Governor Tom Ridge, the first US Secretary of Homeland Security as a keynote presenter last year had a carry-over effect.

Congratulations to Tom and all the MRC staff for putting on another great conference, that continues to grow and attract increased interest year-over-year from the e-commerce merchant community.

Big Trends

So what were my major observations and conclusions from this year's conference? There were two big ones in addition to getting confirmation that our free Negative Signals service was exactly the right thing to do:

• Collaboration to fight fraud is an idea whose time has come. Online merchants have never been more ready, nor the time more right than right now for working together to make the next great strides in minimizing the Total Cost of Fraud. After baby steps in data sharing, most now realize that we can't make further significant gains without large-scale collaboration to construct a 360 degree view of customer behavior and online reputation. After four years of missionary work and building out Ethoca's infrastructure to support the Global Fraud Alliance, it's gratifying to see this recognition taking hold.

• There are many widely held misconceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of data-sharing. We heard a number of shibboleths at the Data Sharing session on the last day of the conference, which made me realize that it's time to dispel the myths once and for all. One thing that we at Ethoca often forget is that just because we solved the problems doesn't mean that everyone else knows that.

To address the second issue, my next few blog posts will specifically address the numerous misconceptions about data sharing and shed some light on why large-scale global collaboration works.

It was great to see the MRC community come together again this year. Look forward to seeing you all again in 2011.

When Fraud Detection Technology Does the Wrong Thing . . .

Last week, the BBC reported that bank anti-fraud systems are blocking donations to Haitian relief following the earthquake that has brought the small, impoverished country literally to its knees.

Although it is a well-known technique of fraudsters to use stolen cards at charitable sites to make "micro-donations" to test whether a card is still active and usable, using an indiscriminate block to refuse legitimate donations in a time of extreme need is surely an immoral and insensitive use of technology, and a severe unintended consequence of a security measure taken to protect the banks' own interests. I'm sure they did not mean to stop money from getting to the relief effort, but the reality is, we can do a lot better.

Anti-fraud solutions for card-not-present fraud are infinitely more sophisticated than this today. It's relatively easy to identify risk both statistically and behaviorally (preferably in combination), and in extreme situations override rules can be programmed quickly. It might be an extra expense for the bank to contact the card customer and do a live fraud check, but especially in this case where the world is trying to reach out with an empathetic hand, that's exactly what they need to do, because automatic transaction blocks to the Red Cross are going to leave banks with yet another big raspberry on their collective faces.

So, let's call for some common sense. It's bad enough when a sledgehammer rule costs you a bit of profit by falsely rejecting a legitimate customer; it's devastating when it could cost lives and prevent help from getting to where it's needed.

Please, if you haven't contributed yet, consider making a donation to Haitian relief. This link connects you directly to the Red Cross, and lists several legitimate charities that are participating in the direct immediate support that is desperately needed.

http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000043&tid=016

Vacation Hacking: Data Theft and Financial Fraud Occurs Wherever You Are

Vacation is supposed to be a time when you finally relax and break away from the demanding pressures of work-a-day life. But with the economy down, and many worried about doing enough to keep their jobs, the increase in computing mobility means that larger than ever numbers of people are taking work with them when they head for the beach. Be honest -- you took your laptop or Blackberry with you, and if nothing else, checked for email while you were away this summer, didn't you?

So maybe you weren't working as you sipped pina coladas on the beach and surfed not on the water, but on your PC. Maybe you were "just shopping", or watching the latest viral videos on YouTube.

So guess what? Ever on top of new trends, fraudsters have spotted a big new vulnerability to capitalize on. Adding another coined phrase to our fraud glossary, Fox News reports, “vacation hacking” is a new avenue for criminals to steal from those who rely on free wifi or unsecured networks while away from the office to get their internet fix.

Beach fraud

Ok, so you aren't one of those clueless tourists walking around with a sign on your back saying "Hack Me". You're a businessperson who's been around the block a few times, you've got AV software and a firewall -- not so easily taken. Really? Have you ever logged on at the airport, trying to squeeze in just a couple more emails before departure?

So-called "white-hat" hackers recently surveyed a number of large airports, discovering what they said was an alarming amount of hacker generated connections. Hackers are now identifying these airport wifi access points as their new hotspots and enticing busy road warriors unaware that they are at risk, to sign on to a hacker’s portal, not just willingly handing over their credit card info, but also leaving their laptop at risk and their information unprotected.

Data breaches, phishing, botnets, spam, fake portals, unsecured networks -- all can be used to steal personal information for fraudulent gain. But what can you do to stop it?

Is there any escape? Is any protection good enough?

Everyone will always tell you ways to make your environment more secure, and build a better barrier to keep the bad from getting in. But that doesn't help much when the bad gets in, nor does it deal with the root of the problem. Just ask Heartland Payment Systems, who thought they had a totally secured PCI DSS compliant environment.

Only part of the problem is lack of security. Another critical part of the problem is the value of what gets stolen. We must re-double efforts to make the stolen data worth less, if not worthless. Make it harder to use. Fully thwart attempts to convert data to cash. Increase the penalties and prosecution efforts such that the perpetrator of the biggest data breach in history faces more than a couple slaps on the wrist and a cushy job as informant for the secret service.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Become more aware of what makes us vulnerable, and stop depending on technical solutions that no one understands and which often increase complacency and therefore the probability of loss.

Simple solution: address the problem at its source

The solution as I see it is two-fold:

1. Educate users about risk, and what to look out for -- what makes something suspicious and why you shouldn't hand over a social security number when someone calls asking for it, for example
2. Stop financial fraud at source, by getting banks, card issuers, card processors, anti-fraud vendors and the targeted merchants all working together to provide a backstop when security fails

Simple right?

Take the poll

Let us know what you think. More security? Better fraud detection? Stiffer penalties? Simplicity? Less technology? Collaboration? Smarter users? What is going to help us gain control of things?

Take our poll, and after you hit the button, you'll see a graph of the compiled results. And, if your answer isn't on the list, give us your solution in the comments below.

Aren't you glad that summer vacation is almost over and you're back to work?

Data Breach Master Hacker Indicted; Foreshadows Increase In Online Credit Card Fraud

Quiet congratulations to the authorities' for finally catching up with their man - Albert Gonzalez - and getting indictments handed down by the grand jury in two of the largest deliberate data breaches in history at Heartland Payment Systems and Hannaford Bros.

Gonzalez, going by the alias Segvec, was also indicted in breaches at 7-11 and 2 other unnamed national retailers, as investigations continue into whether he might have been the linchpin in a number of other systems intrusions. In a path of financial havoc rivalling the damages of Hurricane Katrina and Bernie Madoff combined, we wonder how many more shoes there are to drop, as Gonzalez is already being held on charges stemming from the TJX breach in 2007, the previous largest breach on record before Heartland came to light.

Low Key Celebrations

Perhaps a sigh of relief is in order, but not too much more in the way of celebration. Loud hurrahs and back-slapping would be inappropriate, lest we be lulled into complacency, and thinking this means the internet is safe again.

In fact, if you didn't feel a little uneasy about the inequality of armaments between the criminals and those defending against them, remember that Gonzalez pulled off his elaborate heist literally while authorities were watching. His crew deployed the worms that siphoned data from Heartland and others, while he was acting as an informant, after he had already been caught acting as an administrator for a prominent carding site called Shadowcrew.

End of the Beginning?

So, unlike many, we do not believe this heralds the beginning of the end for big time cybercrime -- rather just the opposite: it signals the end of the beginning. It will only get worse from here.  How do we know?

Gonzalez is not the world's only smart hacker, and although authorities say there are few in his skill range, we believe there are many who are even smarter and who will learn from his mistakes. There are plenty of his kind working in crime hotspots all over the world. Not only are they well-trained, they are among the world's best mathematicians and scientists, often living in a climate where criminal behavior is tolerated, even respected -- where it is regarded as a legitimate tax-paying business, and even directly supported in some cases by the state.

Birth of a Hacker Hero

Gonzalez has shown the next generation of hackers how to win, and how to win big. Nevermind the arrogance and hubris which pushed him to take dumb chances that allowed him to be caught. He wrote the blueprint for others to follow.

His brazen finger-in-the-eye crime makes him a hacker hero, energizing the whole hacker community to go him one better. His primary misstep was getting too cocky, repeatedly going back to the same well as he perpetrated the biggest credit card scams in history under the noses of the Secret Service.  If he had not already been known to law enforcement, and acting as an informer, is it possible he may have escaped detection entirely? Had he been a little less greedy, or a little less in-your-face with his tactics and scale of assault, might we still be looking for him for years to come?

Copycats Will Multiply

The hacker community is well-connected and well organized. Despite getting caught, Gonzalez's work is still impressive, and many will emulate his tactics.  They will learn from both his success and his failure.  The next big-time hacker, will be a little less full of bravado, and a little more cautious. They will evolve their M.O. a little more frequently, and run just below the radar.  

So, while some see the catching of Gonzalez as a major blow to the fraudsters, I view it differently. Segvec is a harbinger of the increasing sophistication of attack on the horizon, and portends accelerating and increasingly deceptive attempts to commit CNP fraud against retailers to convert stolen data to cash.

Are you ready for what's coming?

Following the Global Fraud Alliance using Social Media

The Global Fraud Alliance is more than members pooling data to create the world's most formidable force against fraud. It is also a community of like-minded merchants, sharing insights, news, stories and experiences.

Over the past year, Ethoca has rolled out a number of social media tools to help members stay abreast of what's going on, communicate with the community, engage in conversation over some of the key issues affecting us all, and receive alerts on breaking news. This blog is one of those tools, but we want to ensure you know about all of them and are able to choose the update methods that work best for you. Read on to learn more about the other community tools available.

Twitter

If you're already on Twitter, then no explanation necessary. Just click this button and start following Ethoca. If you're reading this blog on the web (vs in an email or newsreader), then you'll see that we also have the most recent tweets in the blog sidebar, and a button immediately below them that you can click to follow. 

You may find this the easiest way to stay in touch with the community if you are interested in being kept abreast of all updates, since Ethoca broadcasts all blog posts, press releases, videos or other Ethoca or community news as it happens from Twitter. We will also use Twitter to broadcast any topical news, including external articles of interest, quick opinions, and anything that has urgent relevancy to the whole community. You can also use hashtags (e.g. #fraudalliance) to post your own messages of interest to the whole community, or create your own tags for subjects of interest to you.

If you haven't started Tweeting yet, or following anyone, it's easy to do. Just go to Twitter, and sign up for an account. You can either come back here and push the button to start following us, or search for the username andreedelbrock, and click the follow button inside Twitter.

Andre's Finextra blog
(http://www.finextra.com/community/blogs.aspx?mem_id=44274)

This blog is hosted on the finextra.com, an independent news site and for the financial technology community. Finextra covers all significant technology news in wholesale and retail banking, the capital markets and insurance. Andre's blog is focused on issues of concern to that community, such as payments, credit card, financial fraud, and risk and responses to articles and other commentary on this site.

Global Fraud Alliance YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/ethoca

Want to hear the stories of other members and the unique problems they had to solve? Want to tell your own story to the community? This is the place to see and be seen. There are already some very compelling video clips posted, and we hope you'll want to share yours too.

If you want to get your community video on the Global Fraud Alliance channel, send a note to Ethoca at community@ethoca.com and we'll get in touch to help you record and post it.

The Test of Our Times: Secretary Ridge Recounts the Days Immediately After 9/11

It's not often we have an opportunity to "brag on" our board members, but today it's a personal privilege for me to do just that. First Secretary of Homeland Security and Ethoca director, Governor Tom Ridge, has completed his long awaited book "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege and How We Can Be Safe Again". Scheduled for release on September 1, it promises to a super bestseller.

Click here to order your copy.

The book is Secretary Ridge’s account of his up-close and personal journey immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001 – through his days as White House Homeland Security Director – his leadership of the Department of Homeland Security – and his experiences following that historic endeavor. He praises the unsung heroes of that journey, lays out the challenges and the victories along the way and offers his views on how we can achieve a better, safer world.

Tom is one of those rare men who truly deserves the accolade "American hero," although he also is a man of genuine humility who would be first to pass that mantle on to others he feels more deserving of recognition. He brings a unique perspective to our board, both as an accomplished businessman in his own right, and as a pre-eminent authority in the global threats of terrorism, cybercrime and financial fraud, and the connections between them.

We know his book will prove a riveting fireside read, and a popular first telling of the history of 9/11, and we wish him the best of success in his upcoming launch. And, we promise we'll be among the first to offer a review in the days following the book's release.

Online Retail Fraud Risk Insights from Secretary Ridge

Read what Secretary Ridge had to say about managing online retail fraud risk in an era of globalization, East European cybercrime gangs, and unparalleled data security breaches.

Download a copy of his keynote address to the 2009 Merchant Risk Council conference.

Long Island Skimming Scam Spotted by Microsoft Evangelist

From my Finextra blog

Thinking and Awareness Needed to Stop Crime, Not Just Tech

Recently, a targeted crime spree hit Staten Island with 250 Sovereign Bank customers caught up in a never-ending technological arms race between criminals and the rest of us.  This time it wasn’t the latest hacker sitting at a far away computer in the middle of the night.  Rather it was a small gang that used skimming technology and video cameras to compromise the accounts and make off with over $500,000. But for the alertness of Microsoft “evangelist”, Sean Siebel who spotted the scam while doing his own personal banking, it probably would have been millions lost before detection.

According to banks, skimmers are rarely spotted in the wild, yet after seeing Sean on the news, another New Yorker spotted another skimmer at a Chase branch. The branch manager hadn’t heard of the scam.

We see national news headlines about breaches and individual customer information being stolen by faceless entities in far-away lands.  We assume these scams require tech prowess and amazing skill, but it usually turns out to be as simple as a mirror and hidden video camera. Many times the response to these attacks is to add more features and functionality to our technology.  In the case of credit cards, the focus has been on Chip and PIN, especially in Europe. Soon, even more sophisticated 2-factor authentication is coming through cards with built-in single use PIN generators.

Unfortunately, as this story shows, even the most advanced technology is easily subverted by cheap tools you could purchase at Best Buy or download for free, together with a small amount of ingenuity. The problem is that we place too much trust in the technology, and not enough in being alert, observant and careful. In fact, the more we rely on technology to do our thinking for us, the more complacent and vulnerable we become.

The lesson: if your security approach is purely based on a better technology mousetrap, you are a breach waiting to happen. Don’t forget to educate your people, understand the risks you face, and always assume that the criminals will find a way around whatever technology barriers you erect.

Pre-paid card leader M-Cube Media determined to be out front in collaborating against fraudsters

Top-drawer pre-paid card provider M-Cube Media sees the Ethoca-powered Global Fraud-Fighting Community as a breakthrough means to combat fraud, and wants to be out front in the fight. Mashallah H. M. Ali, M-Cube’s CEO, says the collaborative efforts of fraudsters have to be met with equally collaborative efforts on the part of online merchants.

“Fraudsters are working together to attack online merchants and the integrity of our payment systems, and everyone affected needs to collaborate in the effort to fight back,” says Ali.

The noted business innovator says M-Cube will use Ethoca’s revolutionary collaborative fraud management technology to be out in front of the fraudsters who target customer-not-present transactions. M-Cube Media has been a leader in new solutions for the pre-paid card industry, so it is natural the company has become a leader in confronting fraud, as well.

M-Cube customers range from the UK’s Aspinall Foundation which innovatively protects western lowland gorillas in Africa through cardholder loyalty rewards, to Ireland’s Ryanair, a leading international air carrier.