This is the first installment in our Selling Safely series. Follow along if you’re interested in getting tips on how to use Square safely, and to learn tips on protecting your business from any bad actors out there.
I recently sat down with Square Account Services specialist Connor to get some tips on how to safely use Square Invoices. If you currently invoice your customers or are thinking about starting, these tips can help you protect your business.
Kpay: Thanks for sitting down with me and for chatting about invoice safety. To get started, what’re your top recommendations for selling safely with Invoices?
Connor: First and foremost, know your customer. Being familiar with who you’re selling to is the best way to protect yourself. Do a little research on your customer. Does what they’re purchasing from you make sense for who they are? For example, if someone is claiming to be buying in bulk for a business, but you can't find anything on Google or Facebook for that business, that should be a concern. If any other sellers have been scammed by the same person, they may post those details online on websites like badbuyerlist.org.
K: That’s a great tip. What else can sellers do to protect themselves?
C: Be on the lookout for inconsistencies. For example, the email address the buyer gives you should match their name. Their phone number and ZIP code should likely be in similar geographic areas. Sometimes stolen credit card numbers are purchased by fraudsters on the internet, so their information may be inconsistent. Think about your customer in terms of a story; does the story they’re telling make sense?
K: So what kind of activity should sellers be wary of when invoicing customers?
C: One red flag is if the customer asks you to send an invoice but wants to pick the product up in person. They may ask you to do this because they don’t want to show you the name on the card they’re paying with. If you’re seeing your customer in person, the safest thing to do is see the card and compare the name on it to the person’s ID.
K: That definitely makes sense - and goes with what you were saying earlier - to know your customer. If a seller suspects fraudulent activity of any kind, is there anything they should do?
C: Yes! There are a few ways sellers can protect themselves. One is to not send the product if you think there is something strange or off about the customer. There’s no harm in waiting to verify the customer’s identity before sending them your product. To confirm their identity, you can always ask for a copy of the customer’s ID and card.
If you want to verify that the customer’s payment info is legitimate, you can always call them to get the full payment card info, run a test payment for a specific amount (like $1.63, for example), and then ask the buyer to confirm the amount. In order to confirm the test payment, they’ll need to have access to the card’s online account - something that would be a lot harder for a fraudster to fake.
K: Does Square do anything to proactively catch people who might be trying to pay with stolen cards?
C: We do have robust tools for reviewing payments and preventing fraud from happening. Something we just updated is better messaging in your dashboard if we detect any unusual behavior.
However, we also need your help. Whenever possible, be specific in the details you provide in your Square Invoice. If you're shipping product, include the shipping address in the details. This will give us more context and we'll be able to better protect you.
K: Thanks Connor, we appreciate you taking the time to chat with us about invoice security!
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates about security in processing payments. If you have any questions about how to sell more safely, or if you have any other tips that have worked for you, please feel free to share in the comments!
