# Anyone using FraudRecord?



## vpsnewb (Mar 31, 2013)

I'm confused as to how providers issue reports and what prevents a pissed off employee tech from adding a fake review report of a customer.

I love the idea of it though, though I don't know how reliable it is. Anyone care to share your experience?


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## HalfEatenPie (Mar 31, 2013)

Well, we recently saw an event on LET where a provider posted the wrong FraudRecord on the wrong account, therefore prohibiting that user from purchasing a service with another provider (its been taken care of now).  Honestly it's a great tool but the way that it's setup allows for possibilities for mistakes like that to happen. 

Personally, we use it as another tool to evaluate our new prospective clients and to reduce the amount of fraud orders we get.  I hate to say this but our gut feelings does factor into it.


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## MannDude (Mar 31, 2013)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Well, we recently saw an event on LET where a provider posted the wrong FraudRecord on the wrong account, therefore prohibiting that user from purchasing a service with another provider (its been taken care of now).  Honestly it's a great tool but the way that it's setup allows for possibilities for mistakes like that to happen.
> 
> Personally, we use it as another tool to evaluate our new prospective clients and to reduce the amount of fraud orders we get.  I hate to say this but our gut feelings does factor into it.


I assume it logs what provider adds records to it, yeah? Are these publicly available or only to those with the service?

It seems like a great tool and I want to check it out, but it seems like there are some obvious potential flaws, but since I haven't used it I don't know if these things have been accounted for.


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## HalfEatenPie (Mar 31, 2013)

The logs are publicly available, but the client's name, e-mail, IPs, etc. are all hashed (so its a bit difficult to find a specific record without knowing the person's information first to being with).  

The WHMCS plugin for it though is actually quite convenient to work with.


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## jarland (Apr 11, 2013)

We use it for sure, but I am very outspoken among the three of us that the information needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Also, if I feel that a problem is resolved and/or I believe there is little chance of this person doing the same to another provider, I will not add a report. I believe that the value of FraudRecord depends on us providers not posting out of anger or spite.


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## Nick (May 2, 2013)

I've tried it and didn't feel that it was worth the hassle.

When reporting a client you can't do it from one page, you have to make your way to the separate FraudRecord page in WHMCS. Sure, it's a good idea and I understand it's not for profit however it would be great to have some functionality tied in a bit "closer" to WHMCS to make the reporting a little more simple and convenient.


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## Awmusic12635 (May 3, 2013)

I have considered it, however at this time I am not using it


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## Lee (May 9, 2013)

I like the concept of it however it's bad from a customer point of view, Harzem is a good guy with good intentions but if I get wrongly tagged just because someone does not like me how do it I get it removed, there is no process, no way of me knowing my data is in fraudrecord unless the provider who rejects me or put me there says something.

And aside from that what data protection?  I am all for using tools to spot the abusers but not at the price of blatantly dodging the legalities of it all, in fact no provider in the EU should even be using it as they breaking the law.


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## SPINIKR-RO (May 9, 2013)

FR has probably prevented 10 or so carders, a few spammers. Its not really big enough to make a difference but reporting the worst of the worst is helpful.

We have a HB port on the TODO list.


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## shovenose (May 13, 2013)

It's a useful service - I've only reported one person.


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## Eased (May 15, 2013)

We use FraudRecords on all customers as well as report all fraud. I would highly recommend using it, its the hosts way of fighting back against abusive and fraudulent customers.


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## Patrick (May 16, 2013)

We use it to check clients if we get abuse notices but I haven't reported any in the past 6 months


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## Afterburst-Charlie (May 16, 2013)

Currently not using it, but considering looking in to it. We have created our own routines and screening processes to make sure that no fraudulent orders pass. This is of course an more or less impossible feat, but we are seeing far far less abusive signups now than what we did a few years ago.


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## Coastercraze (May 17, 2013)

We use it as a secondary check. Haven't had any issues with it yet.


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## Tipsta (May 17, 2013)

Just waiting for a Hostbill module :/


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## Damian (May 17, 2013)

I'd really like to point out that Fraudrecord shouldn't be used as a be-all, end-all fraud detection tool. It's just that: a tool; something providers can use in their usual process, with good judgement and input, to determine to carry a client or not.

Here is, for example, a good report: https://www.fraudrecord.com/api/?showreport=af21f4161a215c52

Here is a not so useful report: https://www.fraudrecord.com/api/?showreport=aa35cd9ce3933253

Based on the prior good/bad reports, when reviewing the 'good' report, it was indeed found that the individual was spamming, so they were terminated. Based on the bad report, we haven't heard a peep from the individual.


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## Aldryic C'boas (May 17, 2013)

In theory, such a setup sounds like a decent idea.  But after reading some of the 'provider commentary'... I'd be wary on trusting reports at all.  Demi works well enough for our anti-fraud; we'll just stick with her.


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## TruvisT (May 17, 2013)

I've always gone with instinct on things. Once you've had one spammer, you know how they opperate, and you can pick them out pretty easily. And on a random fact, I've seen 90% of the dedicated orders coming out of Miami be spam related.


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## SPINIKR-RO (May 17, 2013)

TruvisT said:


> I've always gone with instinct on things. Once you've had one spammer, you know how they opperate, and you can pick them out pretty easily.


Yeah right,

We get spammers all the time that are pretty damn decent at what they do. sleeper accounts, 'resellers' pretending to be neutral etc.


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## Ash (May 17, 2013)

I look for the obvious stuff.


Non-matching PayPal name
A non existent host-name or domain name
A hostname linked to a blank page or a page with some BS one liner
Weird looking company name; blah blah LTD solutions incorporated
Or my favourite, where you inform the client "The order has been temporarily suspended pending review, please provide further info etc" and they respond with just "Kindly activate the VPS".

Its a fun game.


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## SPINIKR-RO (May 17, 2013)

Generally ask for a authorization from the PayPal domain if the name does not match. It has won 100% of disputes/chargebacks

I would rather someone use their chosen English name, even if its fake, than search for or type xluea sagjasdkgj asuioohuilop


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## Aldryic C'boas (May 17, 2013)

Spinikr said:


> I would rather someone use their chosen English name, even if its fake, than search for or type xluea sagjasdkgj asuioohuilop


 



.... I couldn't resist that one, sorry


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## Damian (May 17, 2013)

Spinikr said:


> 'resellers' pretending to be neutral etc.


 

Those are my favorite! I like to remind them that resellers are bound to our own AUP/TOS, the same as clients.


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## SPINIKR-RO (May 17, 2013)




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## Aldryic C'boas (May 17, 2013)

Spinikr said:


> The Indonesian ones get rough, specially the ones with like 4 first names.





> mysql> SELECT COUNT(id) FROM tblclients WHERE country = 'ID' AND status = 'Active';
> 
> +-----------+
> 
> ...


Heh, I have more problems validating the ones that only have a surname (no separate first name/etc).  But, I've gotten fairly adept at picking out troublemakers.. for awhile, the company slogan was _Nobody hides from Pony  ^_^__ _


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## KuJoe (May 17, 2013)

FraudRecord is an awesome tool... *TOOL*. It's not the end all to fraud, but it is still extremely useful. We've been using it for a while and use it as a guide, not as gospel. There are certain providers we will hold their reports in higher regard based on previous reports, company reputation (in my eyes), and how well written the report is.

Then again if a client has a report from 4 different hosts all saying "chargeback" then I will be more willing to take that as a warning versus 1 host reporting "fake".

Here's the typical method of my order review:

All accounts:


Check Maxmind.
Validate client info.
Check client info against payment info.
If suspicious:


Search client info against popular search engines and forums.
Last:


Run FraudCheck.


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