I noticed a kind of weird pattern with one eGift card, originally purchased on September 15 for $19.77. It has subsequently been reloaded six times over the following three days, every time using a different Mastercard number, for a total balance of $159.07.
The reload amounts are very random:
$32.54 on 9/16
$10.58 and $31.34 on 9/17
$16.71, $13.64, and $34.49 on 9/18
Currently, the entire $159.07 balance is still unused on the eGift card.
I am concerned that this may involve compromised or stolen cards.
These transactions were not flagged by Square's risk system. I have since activated 3DS for any online purchase above $0.01, and interestingly, today was the first day with no additional reloads.
I already contacted Square Support, but I'm sure I won't hear back from them until next week. In the meantime, I was wondering if this kind of situation has ever happened to anyone else and, if so, what you did.
Of course, I'm concerned that this person could show up at the store, spend the entire $159.07 balance, and then the cardholders could later dispute the original transactions. Since these were online, card-not-present transactions, I'm worried that we could end up losing the products even if the original payments are later determined to have been fraudulent.
Also, hypothetically, let's say this person shows up with the eGift card/printed card number. Is there anything I can or should ask them for before accepting the gift card, such as ID or proof of ownership? Would it be appropriate to ask them to show the original payment card used for the first purchase?
Of course, the customer could have legitimately used virtual cards (I use them myself) but reloading the same eGift card multiple times always within a 5–10 minute window, seems unusual to me. It makes me wonder whether there could be a reason for keeping each individual transaction below a certain amount.
Has anyone experienced something similar with Square eGift Cards? Thanks!
