Payment Fraud
Account Data Compromise
Account data compromise (ADC) is an incident where payment account data is exposed or stolen from a merchant, processor, or other entity.
Read full definitionShouldEye Trust Intelligence Glossary
Payment Fraud Terms
Skimming, CNP fraud, payment-app scams, and related fraud patterns explained defensively.
Educational information only. ShouldEye does not provide legal, banking, or individualized financial advice. Dispute rights, deadlines, and outcomes depend on your payment method, card network, issuer, processor, jurisdiction, and the facts of your case. Legal Disclaimers
52 published definitions in this topic.
Payment Fraud
Account Takeover Fraud
Account takeover (ATO) fraud occurs when an attacker gains control of a customer’s merchant or wallet account and abuses stored payments.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Allowlist
An allowlist (whitelist) explicitly trusts certain customers, BINs, devices, or IPs to bypass stricter checks.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Application Fraud
Application fraud is deception during account, credit, or merchant onboarding to obtain access or funds.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Bot Fraud
Bot fraud is automated abuse—card testing, stuffing, inventory hoarding, or fake signups—driven by scripts.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Bust-Out Fraud
Bust-out fraud builds apparent trust or credit, then rapidly monetizes and abandons the account.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card Enumeration
Card enumeration systematically guesses or iterates card numbers and expiry/CVV combinations to discover valid credentials.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card Fraud
Card fraud is unauthorized or deceptive use of payment card credentials or plastic.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card Testing
Card testing is automated probing of stolen card numbers with small authorizations to find live cards.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card Testing Charge
A card-testing charge is a small unauthorized authorization used by fraudsters to check whether stolen card details still work.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card-Not-Present Fraud
Card-not-present (CNP) fraud abuses card credentials without a physical card read—typically online, mail, or phone.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Card-Present Fraud
Card-present (CP) fraud occurs in person using counterfeit, stolen, or skimmed cards at acceptance devices.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Clean Fraud
Clean fraud is fraudulent transactions that look legitimate—correct AVS/CVV, normal devices, and low rule scores—until losses appear.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Compromised Card
A compromised card is a payment credential exposed in a breach, skimming incident, or malware event.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Coupon Abuse
Coupon abuse is the misuse of discount codes—sharing single-use vouchers, stacking against policy, farming codes with bots, or redeeming codes never intended for that buyer.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Denylist
A denylist (blacklist) blocks known-bad PANs, devices, emails, or other identifiers.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Early Fraud Warning
An early fraud warning (EFW) notifies a merchant that an issuer has flagged a transaction as suspected fraud.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
False Positive
A false positive is a legitimate customer or payment incorrectly flagged as fraud.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
First-Party Fraud
First-party fraud is abuse committed by a customer who is a legitimate account or cardholder participant.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Fraud Monitoring Program
A fraud monitoring program is a network or acquirer regime that tracks merchant fraud/chargeback levels and can impose remedies.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Fraud Rule
A fraud rule is a deterministic condition that flags, challenges, or blocks a transaction.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Fraud Score
A fraud score is a numeric risk estimate for a payment or account event.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Fraud-to-Sales Ratio
Fraud-to-sales ratio compares fraud losses (or fraud counts) to sales volume over a period.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Fraudulent Transaction
A fraudulent transaction is a payment involving deception—commonly stolen credentials, scams, or manipulated checkout.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Friendly Fraud
Friendly fraud is a chargeback or dispute filed by a cardholder (or household) on a purchase they actually authorized or received.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Gift Card Fraud
Gift card fraud obtains, drains, or launders value through gift card issuance and redemption.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Loyalty Fraud
Loyalty fraud steals or manufactures loyalty points, miles, or rewards for unauthorized redemption.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Machine Learning Fraud Detection
Machine learning fraud detection uses models trained on historical labels to score new payment risk.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Manual Review
Manual review is human investigation of payments or orders flagged by the risk engine.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Mastercard SAFE Report
A Mastercard SAFE report is a fraud advice filing that issuers submit when a Mastercard transaction is reported as fraudulent.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Merchant Laundering
Merchant laundering is a form of transaction laundering where a merchant account disguises another business’s transactions.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Nested Payment Processing
Nested payment processing is when a payment facilitator or merchant covertly processes for sub-merchants outside approved onboarding.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Notification of Fraud
A notification of fraud is an issuer or network notice that a transaction has been reported or suspected as fraudulent.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Payment Factoring
Payment factoring (in fraud/risk usage) is processing another business’s card transactions through your merchant account for a fee.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Payment Fraud
Payment fraud is dishonest misuse of payment instruments, credentials, or processes to obtain goods, funds, or value.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Phishing Payment
Phishing payment schemes use fake messages or sites to steal credentials, OTPs, or to induce fraudulent payments.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Promotion Abuse
Promotion abuse exploits discounts, referrals, or trial offers beyond intended use—often with fake accounts or bots.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Refund Abuse
Refund abuse is excessive or manipulative use of refund policies by customers, sometimes bordering first-party fraud.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Refund Fraud
Refund fraud obtains illegitimate refunds—often without returning goods or after using stolen tender.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Reshipping Fraud
Reshipping fraud recruits people to receive goods bought with stolen payments and forward them, often abroad.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Return Abuse
Return abuse exploits return policies—wardrobing, partial returns, or empty-box schemes—for undeserved value.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Risk Engine
A risk engine evaluates payments in real time using rules, scores, lists, and sometimes 3DS decisions.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Social Engineering Payment
Social engineering payment fraud manipulates people into approving payments or revealing secrets that enable theft.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Synthetic Identity Fraud
Synthetic identity fraud combines real and fabricated personal data to create a new identity used for credit or payments abuse.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
TC40 Report
A TC40 report is a Visa fraud advice record that issuers file when a cardholder reports a transaction as fraudulent.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Third-Party Fraud
Third-party fraud is committed by someone other than the legitimate account holder using stolen credentials or identity.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Transaction Laundering
Transaction laundering processes payments for unidentified or illegal merchants through a seemingly legitimate merchant account.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Transaction Rule
A transaction rule is a processing or risk condition applied to individual payment attempts.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Triangulation Fraud
Triangulation fraud uses a fake storefront to take orders, buys the goods from a legitimate retailer with stolen cards, and ships to the victim buyer.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Unauthorized Transaction
An unauthorized transaction is a payment made without the account holder’s permission—often true fraud or account takeover.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Velocity Check
A velocity check measures how many times an identity, card, device, or address attempts actions in a time window.
Read full definitionPayment Fraud
Velocity Limit
A velocity limit is the maximum allowed attempt or spend rate before a block or step-up triggers.
Read full definition