Fraud filters are supposed to protect you. But when they’re too strict, they start blocking legit customers, hurting sales, and frustrating your support team. This is a common problem, especially for high-risk industries, subscription models, and stores with international buyers.
Below are five fixes shared by real merchants who ran into this issue and found ways to rebalance risk and revenue.
1. Tighten AVS Rules Only for High-Risk Countries
One seller found that their Address Verification System (AVS) rules were blocking too many valid U.S. orders. The fix? Keep standard AVS for low-risk regions and apply stricter rules only to high-fraud zones like Southeast Asia and certain parts of Eastern Europe.
By segmenting risk geographically, they lowered false positives without opening the floodgates to fraud.
Quick Tip: Use fraud scoring to tag countries based on historical fraud rates and customize AVS settings accordingly.
2. Lower Velocity Checks for Known Customers
Another merchant with a subscription-based model realized their fraud filter was flagging loyal repeat customers who were upgrading their plans or placing multiple orders.
The solution was to loosen velocity checks for accounts with a long transaction history, verified emails, or consistent IPs.
Bonus Move: Add exemptions for customers with multiple successful transactions over 90+ days.
3. Fine-Tune 3D Secure Triggers
One international merchant was losing high-ticket sales because their fraud filter required 3D Secure (3DS) on all orders above $200. The problem? Some banks decline legitimate 3DS attempts or don't support it.
They updated their filter to trigger 3DS only for risky combinations: mismatched billing/shipping, new customers, and high fraud-risk regions. That change alone recovered over 20% of abandoned transactions.
Note: 3DS is not bulletproof. It’s best used selectively based on context, not as a universal block.
4. Rebalance the Fraud Scoring Threshold
Some tools assign a score to each transaction based on IP risk, device fingerprint, card data, and more. One merchant found that their threshold was set too low—any score over 40 was getting declined.
They increased the cutoff to 60, but added a manual review queue for scores between 40 and 60. This allowed them to recover legit sales while keeping a close eye on anything borderline.
Manual reviews take time, but if your chargeback rate is low and your team is small, reviewing a few extra orders a day may be worth it.
5. Use Real-Time Alerts to Catch Legit Declines
A digital goods store noticed a spike in abandoned carts. After testing, they realized their fraud filter was declining legit orders from certain IP blocks flagged as VPNs.
They set up real-time alerts for any decline reason related to IP or device mismatch. When one popped up, they contacted the customer to try the purchase again using a different network or device. In many cases, it worked.
This also gave their fraud team real-world data to reclassify certain IPs as “trusted” based on behavior.
Why This Matters
Overly strict filters don’t just block fraud. They block growth. Every legit customer who gets denied is a potential lost subscription, a negative review, or a competitor’s win.
And when those customers complain, your support team ends up caught in the middle, forced to explain a decline they didn’t cause.
The right approach isn’t to disable fraud protection. It’s to tune it smartly. Look at your filter settings like you’d look at a pricing strategy: constantly test, tweak, and monitor for results.
FAQs About Fraud Filters
What is an aggressive fraud filter?
An aggressive fraud filter is a security setting that blocks too many legitimate transactions in an effort to prevent fraud. This can lead to lost revenue, frustrated customers, and an increase in support inquiries.
How can I tell if my fraud filter is too strict?
You may notice a high rate of declines on legitimate cards, especially from regular or returning customers. Other signs include a spike in cart abandonment, customer complaints, or a drop in conversion rate without changes to traffic.
Should I ever disable 3D Secure?
It depends on your business model. For high-value or international orders, 3DS can add an extra layer of security. But if it causes too many failed transactions, it may be better to apply it only to suspicious or high-risk scenarios.
What’s a safe fraud score threshold?
There’s no universal number, but most tools set thresholds between 50 and 70. If your chargeback rate is low and you see too many declines, you can test raising the threshold slightly while monitoring for abuse.
Can manual review help reduce false positives?
Yes. Manually reviewing borderline transactions gives you control over edge cases. It’s especially useful for high-value orders or customers with unusual patterns who may still be legitimate.
Chargeblast Helps You Tune Before Trouble Starts
If you're stuck between fraud risk and sales loss, Chargeblast gives you the clarity to strike the right balance. Our platform doesn’t just react to chargebacks—it helps prevent them in the first place by tracking decline reasons, surfacing filter problems early, and giving you tools to fine-tune without going blind.
Chargebacks thrive in the gaps between fraud systems and customer support. Chargeblast closes those gaps before they cost you. Get peace of mind and fewer disputes. Let us handle the chargeback mess so you can focus on growth.
