I'm going to depart from my usual silliness today to discuss a very important issue - credit card fraud.

What is credit card fraud? Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using or involving a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card, as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account.

The sad fact is that there are unscrupulous people in the world, and not all of them work for the government.

Instances of identity theft and credit card fraud climbed to record levels last year, according to a new study from research firm Javelin Strategy & Research. The study found that the number of identify fraud cases rose 16 percent in 2016, costing victims a record-setting $16 billion in losses.

It's easy for people to obtain your information, and use it.  Almost everyone has an anecdote about someone they know who has had their information stolen. If you don't, then you do now, because.... it happened to me. A couple of years ago there was a payment made to some specialty lighting company that we'd never heard of.  Fortunately, we're pretty vigilant, and caught and stopped the transaction quickly. Pearl's mom also had it happen to her. You may have already had to deal with credit card fraud. Max and Pearl know... it sucks.

Fortunately, there are steps we can take to protect our customers.

1) ManateeMax.com's pages employ SSL encryption to thwart hackers and to secure the information you share with us.

2) Manatee Max subscribes to Signifyd, a company which provides fraud and chargeback protection for eCommerce sites. Before Pearl and I even receive your order, Signifyd checks the information for red flags for us.

3) There are also warning signs that vigilant merchants like Max can see, and various tools at our disposal to try to combat this frustrating and costly problem. The front line is basic attentiveness. Max and Pearl process each individual order personally, by hand. (By flipper, really. Because, we're manatees, you know.) This means we see it all. And, when we see those warning signs, we hit the brakes and start the research process.  

Part of the research process involves your patience and understanding. If an order seems suspicious, Pearl and I will try, with your help, patience and understanding, to protect you, your money and information and discern whether or not to process or cancel the order. (Some customers take offense to the added steps required to confirm the legitimacy of their order. We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is necessary for your protection, and ours.)

And lastly, If we cancel an order due to suspicious information, we report that information to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

We strive to make your shopping experience a safe and pleasant one. We hope you appreciate the time, effort and cost of our vigilance in fighting credit card fraud, and again, thank you for your patience and understanding.

(Did we mention we appreciate your patience and understanding?)

It is our sincere hope that this blog post may never be pertinent to you.

Max & Pearl Manatee