Fraud is something that you hope to never deal with when running a business. But if you do business enough, you’re bound to run into it at some point. If you know what it is and how it happens, you can structure your business so that you can reduce the risk of it happening to you. Consider a few ways to avoid chargeback fraud and other problems.

1. Invoice Customers

One of the best ways to avoid fraud is to use a secure invoice program, like PayPal. You can use the service to create an invoice with your company information and the charges for your customer. Then, you can email it directly to your customer to have them pay it. They can pay using a credit card, but PayPal has some protections for merchants so that you can get help with fraud.

2. Use Ethoca

Ethoca is an online service for eCommerce businesses where you can get help to fight fraud and eliminate chargebacks. You don’t have to have a large business to be at risk for fraudulent activity, and you need to protect yourself before it happens. While you may think you can fight fraud on your own, it will get tiring. Companies like Ethoca can help you fight fraud, and you can improve the experience for your genuine customers.

3. Don’t Accept Credit Cards

If you don’t want to deal with a service but want to avoid chargebacks, you may want to look for other payment options. Credit cards make it easy for the consumer to make claims about unauthorized purchases. If you want to avoid the issue completely, you can decide not to accept credit cards. Now, there is some risk to any payment option, and not taking credit cards may cost you some business. But it can be a short term solution until you find a way to fight fraud over the long term.

4. Set Up Strong Payment Policies

You can also avoid chargebacks by having payment policies that refuse refunds and exchanges. The policies you have will depend on what products or services you sell, so choose wisely. Not offering refunds can reduce the chances of chargeback fraud, especially if you make the policy clear to your customers. You’ll also make things easier on yourself because you won’t have to deal with restocking inventory that comes back.

Running a business from home can be a great, flexible way to make money. But if you don’t have the right protections in place, you could end up with chargebacks. Consider these options so that you can avoid the hassle.