Be wary of orders from free e-mail addresses. That's why a high proportion of fraudulent orders come from free e-mail addresses. As a result, many merchants refuse to accept orders from them or at least perform additional checks. Check out the customer's Web site, where it is possible. For example, the Web site might display a U.S. business address but the order requests delivery to be made to Eastern Europe.
Some merchants go even further and check out who owns the domain name.
Watch out for unusual orders. Thieves tend to place orders that differ significantly from what legitimate customers typically order. Phone the customer if you have doubt. A quick telephone call can often be enough to establish whether an order is legitimate or not. This includes the customer's address and telephone number, the name of bank that issued the credit card, and the IP address of the computer from which the order was placed.