Trailer dealers have become prime targets for card-not-present fraud. The pattern is familiar: a caller places a high-ticket order with a credit card, then sends a driver to pick up the trailer. Days later— after the trailer is gone and unrecoverable— the true cardholder disputes the charge. The dealer is left with a chargeback and a loss that can erase months of margin.
Many dealers try to protect themselves with signed credit-card authorization forms and photocopied IDs. Unfortunately, those steps don’ t authenticate the cardholder. In a card-notpresent( CNP) scenario, a signature or a photo ID gathered at the yard or by the back-office is not the security protocol the card brands( and banks) rely on. What does move the needle is strong, card-network-recognized authentication before release of goods— most notably Payer Authentication or simply,“ 3DS”.
Why the usual controls fall short Signed card forms ≠ cardholder authentication. A fraudster can sign anything. Networks and issuers look for cryptographic and behavioral signals tied to the actual cardholder— not a scanned signature. Photocopying IDs helps with who picks up, not who pays. Verifying a driver’ s identity doesn’ t prove the true cardholder authorized the transaction. And during the time of payment, counterfeit IDs are easily produced through AI. AVS / CVV checks are useful but limited. Address and CVV mismatches are red flags, but many stolen cards pass these checks.
The control that changes outcomes: Payer Authentication Payer Authentication( 3DS) is the card-network standard for authenticating the cardholder in CNP transactions. When you send a secure payment link( invoice, checkout, or portal) and the buyer completes a 3DS challenge— or is approved“ frictionlessly” based on risk signals— the issuer is effectively attesting,“ We recognize this cardholder.” In most cases, successful 3DS authentication shifts fraud liability away from the merchant.
Here are practical ways our clients have cut exposure without disrupting operations. Replace key-by-phone with a secure payment link that supports Payer Authentication. Require the buyer to complete payment on their own device before you release a trailer. Keep the 3DS authentication record with the invoice. Important: Liability-shift rules vary by network, transaction type, and region. Your payment provider should help you enable 3DS correctly and document when shift applies( and when it doesn’ t).
34 NATDA Magazine www. natda. org