Fraudulent transactions are a big problem for retailers, and a new company is so confident in its ability to eliminate ecommerce fraud, it makes a guarantee to merchant customers that protects them against chargebacks. And while the company, Forter, is new, its founders are not – eBay’s payments unit acquired their original anti-fraud technology 6 years ago.
Scott Thompson helped PayPal acquire Fraud Sciences in 2008 for $169 million in his role as President of the eBay unit. Fraud Sciences used a secretive technique called “identity proofing” that involved establishing whether a buyer was a real person and was who he said he was by analyzing digital footprints scattered around the Internet.
Its founders have since launched Israeli startup Forter, and Thompson, now CEO of ShopRunner, will take on the role of advisor to the founders with whom he previously worked.
Forter’s service helps online retailers eliminate fraud in real time, and offers merchants a 100-percent chargeback guarantee. The “plug-and-play” technology automates the online purchase review process by instantly analyzing profile data, behavioral data and cyber intelligence. The company explains, “While other solutions are solely focusing on verifying customer-given information, which is easy to fake, Forter focuses on combining that with the analysis of real-time customer behavior on the site – something that is much harder to fake.”
Thompson was quoted in Forter’s press release. “When we worked together I was blown away by their approach to fighting fraud, which was driven by their understanding of how a fraudster operates. At the time it was the most innovative solution out there, which is why PayPal acquired it for a large sum of money. When I heard that the Fraud Sciences guys had reunited and improved the technology by delivering fraud decisions with coverage protection in real-time – something that no one has been able to crack – I immediately realized the technology’s potential. I’m thrilled to be joining Forter as an advisor and have the utmost confidence in the company’s team and its technology.”
Forter officially launched out of an eight month stealth mode in February and announced a $3 million Series A funding round from Sequoia in March.
