Hi John,

Sounds like it may be a potential fraud.

I would contact the card holder (directly by phone if possible - or have the credit card company do it) and verify that 1) they know the person who signed up for the account and 2) If they authorize them to use the card for this type of transaction.

If the answer is yes to either question, you have to ask them to reverse the chargeback.

If the answer is no, then provide all details to the credit card company so they can lay charges against the fraudulent credit card user.

If it is fraud, unfortuneately there is nothing you can do. You will have to deal with the chargeback and the associated fees.

Hope this helps...


***EDIT*** - John, in the future, you should consider getting an Internet Merchant Account and setting the fraud filter to hold these types of transactions (where the name of the account holder doesnt match the name of the signup - also filter for address and phone number). If you already have a merchant account, just go in and set your appropriate fraud filter. I know merchant accounts tend to be more expensive then 3rd party payment processors - but these types of things make them more affordable (in fees, hassles, stress, etc...)