How to Handle On Hold Orders and
riskScore Calculations
Orders that exceed the riskScore Threshold will be put On Hold as a means to call your attention to the order before you fulfill it.
On Hold does NOT mean the order wasn't charged. On Hold means you should review the order, Unhold it, and proceed with fulfillment or refunding.
Summary
If you have received an On Hold Notification email and/or notice an order that is On Hold, this is done for the purpose of alerting you that you should review the order carefully before fulfilling it.
An order will be automatically placed On Hold if our Fraud Detection software has determined that the riskScore of the order is over a certain threshold. The riskScore calculation is only an estimation and not an absolute determination of fraud, and the On Hold Notification email is simply an alert that you should review the order details carefully before fulfilling it.
The status of On Hold does not have any bearing on the payment transaction; if an order was created, it was paid for. If you think the order is fraudulent, you must refund it.
On Hold is intended to be a temporary status, and you should not leave orders in an On Hold state indefinitely. You should:
1- Unhold the order
2- Review order details to determine the order's legitimacy
3- Process/Fulfill (Ship) if legitimate; Refund if fraudulent.
More information about the riskScore and fraud, and details for performing these steps follow below.
What is Fraud?
A credit card transaction that is not authorized by the card owner is fraudulent. Unfortunately, fraud is a common consequence of ecommerce, and became temporarily more prevalent with the global pandemic.
A fraudulent transaction can result not only in lost product (if a fraudulent order is filled), but in costly chargebacks (if you don’t refund the fraudulent charge).
MaxMind Fraud Detection Extension
The MaxMind Fraud Detection extension that comes with every DermPRO Store is effective in detecting stolen card fraud, providing a riskScore for each purchase that will help you make better decisions about whether orders placed on your store are fraudulent.
This software evaluates your store's transactions against billions of scored transactions from the minFraud® network, drawing on machine learning as well as years of expert review to provide a numerical indicator of risk. The riskScore is based on a statistical analysis of the following: reputation and real-time monitoring (IP addresses, Devices, Email addresses), Geolocation checks, Proxy detection, Bank Identification Number checks, and the minFraud Network.
90% of legitimate, non-fraud orders have a riskScore below 5, so our initial configuration is such that any order with a riskScore above 5 will be placed On Hold, alerting you that you should review the order and take the appropriate action after evaluation of the order’s validity.
DermPRO has found that all orders with a riskScore of 99 are fraudulent, so we automatically block the order from being placed if the riskScore is 99.
NOTE: If you receive a lot of "false positives", i.e. many legitimate orders that are being falsely flagged, please report this to DermPRO by submitting a Support Ticket. We will review your orders and if appropriate, we can adjust the Threshold at which orders are put On Hold. Perhaps we need to move the threshold from the default riskScore of 5 to something higher.
The Steps
The Fraud Estimation scores should be used together with the order inspection steps you are already following in order to assist you in making more confident decisions about whether an order is fraudulent.
Step 1- Receive On-Hold Notification Email (or notice On Hold status of order in your store back-end or Shop Manager Order Management)
You will receive an email to your store’s primary contact email address if an order is placed On Hold. The email subject will be:
Review Required: An Order Has Been Placed On Hold
Step 2- Review the Order Details
Be sure to review On Hold Orders promptly. Go to Shop Manager > Orders and view the Risk Score column to find the riskScore. If you do not see a Risk Score column, click on the Columns icon in the upper-right corner and enable the Risk Score column.
You may use the Filters to filter by On Hold order status if that's helpful to locate the On Hold order(s).
The riskScore is displayed in black if less than the Score Threshold, which we have initially set to 5 on your store. The riskScore is displayed in red if above the Score Threshold, indicating a high risk of fraud.
Note that there will be no Fraud Estimation score reported if (1) the value of the order is less than $10, (2) the order is a membership recurring payment, or (3) the order was placed from an IP address that is configured as an “IP Exception” (known safe).
Click on View More to expand the order details. Once expanded, View More will become View Less.
If the riskScore is above the threshold, the score will be red and the order status will be On Hold.
Utilize the Fraud Detection Steps in order to determine if the order is legitimate.
Step 3- Unhold the Order
Once you've reviewed the order details, you must Unhold the order in order to move forward. Whether you will refund it or fulfill it, you should Unhold it. Do not keep an order On Hold.
Note that Order Processing Functions are contextual. Therefore, the only button that is available for an order that is On Hold is the UNHOLD button. You must first Unhold the order, and after Unholding you will see the Ship and Refund buttons.
If you decide the order is legitimate, click the SHIP button and process it as you normally would.
If you decide the order is fraudulent, refund it. The steps below provide additional guidance.
Steps for Handling An Order Believed to be Fraudulent
The most important thing to do when you decide an order is fraudulent is to Refund the Transaction as soon as possible.
THIS IS YOUR FOREMOST PROTECTIVE ACTION.
If your store uses BluePay/CloverConnect, refunding the order on the same day (before the payment transaction settles to your account) will Void the purchase transaction and you will not pay transaction fees.
Once the actual owner of the credit card realizes it was compromised, the typical response will be to freeze the credit card account and then you will not be able to refund the transaction. This complicates your situation and most likely will result in a chargeback. Therefore, immediate action is important.
Further, by refunding the fraudulent transaction immediately, you are signaling the fraud perpetrator that you know their transaction is fraudulent. This is the best way to keep the perpetrator from continuing to use your store for fraudulent activity. If you refund everything he does, he will go away and look for another store on which to perpetrate his crimes.
If you believe an order is fraudulent, you should do the following:
1- Do not fulfill the shipment.
2- Refund the order.
3- If you ever receive any chargebacks on orders that were completed, you should report those chargebacks through this extension. Reporting chargebacks helps to customize and improve the riskScore for you and everyone who uses the extension.
To report a chargeback on a previously completed order, open the order in your Store Back-End and go to the MaxMind tab. Click the “Report Chargeback” link to report that this order payment was charged back.
