Our business has recently been the victim of a credit card fraud:  a
large order was placed (and shipped) using a stolen/fraudulant card. 
We have gotten two fraudulant orders since then and have good reason
to believe they are all originating from the same group of people.   
We have reported this to the local police to no avail.  They do not
seem to be equipped to handle credit card fraud issues.  We lost over
$2500 on the fraudulant sale.  WE have a name, phone number and
address as well as an IP address (from where the order was placed)  
Who do we report this too? Will a federal agency will handle this?
Any suggestions for recourse we could take in the even that this never
gets followed up on?

Last but not least, what is the law on chargebacks? Is there a time
limit after which a customer can not say they didn't order/recieve the
product?

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Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 12 Aug 2003 21:42 PDT

Hi greencoast!!

I just started a research and I think that my request will be useful
for it, please, can you tell us wich was the credit card involved in
the fraud, ans also the state where your business is locatad and the
location (just city, county and state) from where the order was placed
and shipped?

I think that this additional info will let us give you an answer that
fit better your case.

Regards.
livioflores-ga

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Clarification of Question by greencoast-ga on 14 Aug 2003 12:09 PDT

Hello livioflores-ga

thank you for your research.  Just to clarify a bit, we are located in
Santa Barbara, CA. The thiefs live in Oakland (all three addresses
have been located in the same oakland area)  The crazy thing is that
we are certain we know where these people live!  They would be so easy
to find and prosecute.

Two of the cards used were visa.  One was a mastercard.

I would appreciate it if you could answer this part of the question:

Last but not least, what is the law on chargebacks? Is there a time
limit after which a customer can not say they didn't order/recieve the
product?

We have checked into the FTC and they don't seem very interested in
this sort of case, although they SHOULD be.

Thank you 
greencoast hydroponics
www.gchydro.com

After research I only found bad news to you, please read the following
paragraph:
"In fact it is usually the merchant who is the true victim of Internet
credit card fraud. This is because Internet credit card transactions
fall under the heading of MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order)
transactions, also called CNP (cardholder not present transactions).
Most credit card merchant account agreements leave the merchant 100%
liable for fraud committed via this type of transaction as well as
requiring them to pay a $15-$25 chargeback fee. And as if to rub salt
in to the wound, if a merchant experiences a high level of chargebacks
they are often hit with an increase in the discount rate they have to
pay on each transaction or may even have their account terminated. And
once lost, a merchant account can be almost impossible to obtain
again."
"How to Beat Credit Card Fraud (1)" By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It! :
http://sellitontheweb.com/ezine/howto004.shtml

See also the following pages:
"Avoid Becoming A Victim Of Credit Card Fraud" (look for the section
"What If I Become A Victim?"):
http://www.merchandisebrokers.com/fraudart.html

"Avoid Becoming A Victim Part II":
http://www.merchandisebrokers.com/fraudart2.html

In regard to where report this event, the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) is very interested in this type of crime.
http://www.ftc.gov

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-internet.htm#bized

See also the following document:
"Credit Card Fraud Against Merchants - What Internet Merchants Need to
Know":
http://www.nethosting.com.ve/wp_fraud.pdf


Also you can subscribe to the following web-service:
"ChargebackPrevention.com:Fight fraud, lower chargebacks, win
disputes, and reduce merchant bank fees!":
http://www.chargebackprevention.com/index.html


I hope that this info helps you.
Please tell me how much information do you need in order to complete
this and will be able to post a well organized answer and also claim
the prize.

Thank you.
livioflores-ga