Fraud Prevention

PerfectPay integrates fraud detection directly into the payment flow. Pre-integrated fraud engines, card verification tools, and 3DS authentication work together to block fraudulent transactions before they settle.

Pre-Integrated Fraud Engines

PerfectPay connects to leading fraud and risk management (FRM) providers:

Connect your FRM provider in the dashboard under Connectors and PerfectPay will route fraud checks as part of the payment flow automatically.

How Fraud Checks Integrate with Payments

Fraud evaluation happens inline during payment processing:

1. A payment is created and confirmed
2. PerfectPay sends transaction data to the configured FRM provider
3. The FRM provider returns a decision: approve, decline, or review
4. If approved, the payment proceeds to the processor
5. If declined, the payment is blocked before authorization
6. If flagged for review, the payment is held and surfaced in the dashboard

This pre-authorization check prevents fraudulent charges from reaching your processor and generating chargebacks.

Card Verification

AVS (Address Verification Service)

AVS checks the billing address provided by the customer against the address on file with the card issuer. Mismatches can indicate fraud.

PerfectPay passes AVS data to the processor automatically when billing address fields are included in the payment request. Review AVS results in the payment response and dashboard.

CVV Verification

The card verification value (CVV/CVC) confirms the customer has physical access to the card. Always collect the CVV for card-not-present transactions.

curl https://sandbox.perfectpay.ai/payments/pay_mbabizu24mvu3mela5njyhpit4/confirm \
  -X POST \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "payment_method": "card",
    "payment_method_type": "credit",
    "payment_method_data": {
      "card": {
        "card_number": "4242424242424242",
        "card_exp_month": "10",
        "card_exp_year": "25",
        "card_cvc": "123",
        "card_holder_name": "Jane Doe"
      }
    },
    "billing": {
      "address": {
        "line1": "123 Main St",
        "city": "San Francisco",
        "state": "CA",
        "zip": "94105",
        "country": "US"
      }
    }
  }'

3DS as Fraud Prevention

3D Secure shifts liability for fraudulent chargebacks from the merchant to the card issuer. Use 3DS for high-risk transactions, large amounts, or regions where it is required by regulation.

Set "authentication_type": "three_ds" on the payment to trigger 3DS. See the 3DS Authentication guide for the full integration flow.

Card Testing Protection

Card testing attacks use stolen card numbers to make small transactions and verify which cards are active. PerfectPay detects and blocks card testing patterns using:

• Velocity checks -- flag or block when the same IP, device, or email submits many payment attempts in a short window
• Amount pattern detection -- identify sequences of small-value authorization attempts
• CAPTCHA and bot detection -- block automated scripts before they reach the payment API

Custom Rules

Configure custom fraud rules in the dashboard to match your business profile:

• Block payments from specific countries or IP ranges
• Set amount thresholds that trigger manual review
• Flag transactions where the billing and shipping addresses do not match
• Require 3DS above a configurable amount threshold

FRM Metadata

Include fraud-relevant metadata in your payment requests to improve FRM provider accuracy:

{
  "amount": 15000,
  "currency": "USD",
  "metadata": {
    "customer_ip": "203.0.113.42",
    "device_fingerprint": "fp_abc123",
    "shipping_address_matches_billing": "true",
    "account_age_days": "365",
    "order_category": "electronics"
  }
}

The more context you provide, the better the FRM provider can score the transaction.

Dashboard Fraud Reporting

The dashboard provides fraud analytics under Analytics:

• Fraud rate by processor, payment method, and country
• Transactions flagged for review with FRM provider scores
• Chargeback trends and dispute rates
• Card testing attempt volume

Operational Notes

• Enable an FRM provider before going live to reduce chargebacks from day one
• Combine 3DS with FRM for layered protection on high-risk payment profiles
• Review flagged transactions promptly -- holding payments too long increases customer friction
• Use Webhooks to receive real-time notifications on fraud decisions
• Track disputes through the Disputes guide when chargebacks do occur