If a payment appears as Suspicious in your Talo Payments account, there is a strong chance the order was made without the cardholder’s knowledge or permission.
If you have any doubts about legitimacy, consider refunding the payment and pausing service. This can help prevent potential financial loss.
Investigating a Suspicious Payment
Carefully review any order that seems unusual. Chargeback fraud is a risk for all businesses, and cautious merchants often:
Verify high-value orders: For large or repeated purchases, confirm the customer’s identity. A quick video or phone call can help.
Check customer contact details: Call the phone number or search the email address for anything that seems off.
Compare billing and shipping addresses: Matching addresses reduce fraud risk. If they differ, ask why.
Watch payment behavior: Multiple declines, multiple cards, or requests to split payments across several cards are red flags.
Examine unusual shipping: Overpriced shipping, insistence on rush delivery with no signature, or use of forwarding companies may indicate fraud.
Avoid 3rd-party payment requests: Decline requests for Western Union, Zelle, Cash App, or paying unrelated “vendors.” These are common scam patterns. Always issue refunds through the original payment method only.
Refunding a Suspicious Payment
If a cardholder doesn’t recognize a payment, they may file a chargeback—one they are very likely to win. This means:
You lose the full transaction amount
Your chargeback ratio increases
Your Talo Payments account could be at risk of closure
If you have not fulfilled the order, refunding protects your goods/services (minus processing fees).
If you already fulfilled the order, refunding limits the loss to the purchase amount and avoids chargeback penalties.
Canceling Fulfillment
If you suspect fraud, consider canceling the session if connected to a booking.