A partial scam involves concealed or altered information about the prices, fees, charges, features and the description overall. The most common partial scam is the ‘hidden fee’ scam. The hidden fee scam is the concealment of some fees, rates and extra charges (usually applied by the processing bank), which then suddenly pop up, or remain hidden and unaccounted for until the e-Commerce merchant receives the bill from the processing bank. Some credit card processing companies do not provide a full price list. A full price list should have, at least, a link to the processing bank with the banks charges, rates and fees, which are usually not displayed on a merchant account provider’s website.

How does one avoid scammers?

The answer may seem an easy one. But even the most respected e-Commerce merchant account providers may sometimes scam. The simple steps to take in each case in order to avoid e-Commerce merchant account fraud and credit card processing service scammers are:

1. NEVER visit sub-domain hosted e-Commerce merchant service provider websites.

If the website name contains something like www.yahoo.com/merchantproviderx it’s a 95% scam. Scammers often close their websites after having fooled a few customers, so it proves to be rather expensive having to pay over and over again for every new domain. Visiting a www.your_merchant_account.com webname type decreases the probability of stumbling upon a scam website.

2. ALWAYS read carefully through the price lists and ask for the full contract to examine before signing up.

It is also recommended to ask and insist on being provided with ALL additional and extra charges applied by the account providing company and the processing bank. Make sure to double-check and cross-checks all the suspiciously low rates by mailing the staff.

3. TRY to read some reviews on forums, message boards, blogs, and articles on specialized websites about a specific provider.

Having read through ratings and comments you will have an idea on what to expect from the provider.

4. TRY NOT to go beyond Google’s third page when looking for a merchant account.

If a provider’s page is in Google’s Top then it means that the provider’s website is well-rated, frequently visited, and trusted. There may, of course, be good providers in the ‘depths’ of Google.com, but the chances of visiting a scam website increase.

5. If you’re UNSURE whether your gateway is secure or not request the assistance of your credit card processing bank.

Their professionals will scan your gateway for traces of third-party activity and fix any holes that may be there.

6. ON THE WHOLE, it is important to look carefully through the website.

Pay attention to the content, articles, FAQs, etc. The more quality – the better. Design could tell you much too, if there’s a sloppily picked color scheme – then probably the site was made too rapidly and carelessly. Just look around and think.

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