November 2002

E-tailers and direct retailers can now take advantage of an online service for checking orders to guard against fraud. It's been launched by a company called Early Warning, which says it had saved participants £300,000 in potential frauds within eight weeks of its launch.

Members are able to search an online database to cross-reference their own sales orders against information about past frauds, as well as being able to define searches based on email address, IP (Internet) address, delivery postcode or name. The database is updated by postings from the members themselves.

Among its features is a database of freight forwarding companies, which is said to help users tell when a delivery address suggests that the goods ordered are going to be shipped abroad.

There are safeguards to prevent customers being mistakenly or unfairly "blacklisted"; for instance, members must carry out a out a "Code 10" check on the customers before posting a fraud to the database.

Membership is free for the time being, although a "small" annual subscription fee will be charged from 31 January.