Fraud means obtaining unjust gain by carrying out a transaction at any merchant or ATM using someone else's credit card or debit card, thereby causing a loss to the real cardholder, the merchant, or the bank.
So, in such cases, what are the fraud codes used by Mastercard and Visa?
Below are the fraud codes used by Visa and Mastercard, along with their descriptions.
Visa fraud codes
| Code | Reason | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Card reported lost | A fraudulent payment resulting from the use of a lost card, without the cardholder's actual, implied, or apparent authorization |
| 1 | Stolen | A fraudulent payment resulting from the use of a stolen card, without the cardholder's actual, implied, or apparent authorization |
| 2 | Not received as issued (NRI) | The interception and use of a card by a person without the cardholder's actual, implied, or apparent authorization, before it is received by the cardholder |
| 3 | Fraudulent application | A fraudulent payment arising from the use of a card obtained through an application made using a false name or other false identity information |
| 4 | Issuer counterfeit | The use of an altered or illegally duplicated card |
| 5 | Other | Any type of fraud not listed under codes 0-4 or 6 and 9 below. |
| 6 | Fraudulent use of account number | A fraudulent payment arising from the use of card information, including fraudulent account details, by phone, mail, internet, or other electronic means, without the cardholder's actual, implied, or apparent authorization and without the involvement of a physical card or other device |
| 9 | Collusive merchant | Fraud arising from a secret agreement between a merchant and the acquiring bank, without the cardholder's actual, implied, or apparent authorization |
| A | Processing error | The issuer confirms that a payment on a Visa account is fraudulent as a result of a processing error; such as fraud on a Verified by Visa (VbV) payment mistakenly identified as a secure e-commerce payment due to an incorrect CAVV |
| B | Account or credential takeover | The issuer confirms that a payment on a Visa account is fraudulent as a result of fraudulent payments arising from a fraudster taking over an account or its credentials |
Mastercard fraud codes
| Code | Reason |
|---|---|
| 0 | Card reported lost |
| 1 | Stolen |
| 2 | Never received issue (NRI) |
| 3 | Fraudulent application |
| 4 | Counterfeit card fraud |
| 5 | Account takeover fraud |
| 6 | Card-not-present (CNP) fraud |
| 7 | Multiple imprint fraud |
| 51 | Acquirer fraud |
