A phone call can settle a hard review in two minutes, or burn 15 and settle nothing. Global e-commerce fraud losses reached $48 billion in 2025, and in the UK, about 70% of 2024 card fraud losses came from card-not-present transactions. With that much exposure, analysts need a clear rule for when direct contact via a verification call earns its cost.
When a verification call is worth the time
Researching contact information and calling the customer, sometimes more than once, adds real time to every review. In exchange, you get the possibility of certainty, but not a guarantee. If the expected benefit of that certainty is low, make an informed judgment call and move on.
Here is a simple way to size the tradeoff. Say an analyst costs $45 an hour fully loaded, and a call adds 10 minutes. That is $7.50 per call. On a $40 order with a 20% margin, you have spent nearly the entire margin to confirm it. On a $900 order for resalable electronics, $7.50 is small next to the lost goods plus a chargeback fee. These numbers are illustrative, so plug in your own.
Signals that justify a call:
- A high-value order or a high-resale item such as electronics, gift cards, or luxury goods
- Mismatched billing and shipping addresses, especially with expedited shipping
- A first-time customer with no order history
- Several risk signals stacking on one order, none of which is conclusive alone
Signals that do not justify a verification call by themselves: a single mismatch on an otherwise routine order, or a low-value item with a clean history. Over-calling also costs you customer goodwill, since a legitimate buyer who gets a call about a $20 order may not come back.
Phone or email?
You are more likely to reach a fraudster than the cardholder when you use email, and fraudsters’ addresses are harder to tell apart from real ones. Creating a new email account, phone number, or voice over IP (VoIP) number takes minutes. Account takeover makes it even worse, because if a criminal controls the real customer’s inbox, an emailed confirmation comes straight back to them.
For that reason, verifying an order by email, meaning confirming it was legitimate and releasing the hold, isn’t recommended. Email still has a use for low-stakes follow-up, such as asking a customer to call the number on file, but it should never be the thing that releases a risky order.
Before you dial
You can end up on the line with a fraudster, so prepare before your verification call.
Start with the number itself. Reverse lookup services can help confirm that a phone number belongs to the cardholder, and most also report the carrier and line type. VoIP lines are riskier because they are easy to generate. Go beyond line type if you can: look for a number that is brand new, a carrier that does not fit the cardholder’s region, or a number tied to several unrelated accounts.
Also decide in advance what you will not say. Never read out full card numbers, the billing address, or other details that would hand a fraudster the answers to your own questions.
What to say, and what to listen for
Make a habit of opening the verification call with a straightforward, innocuous question: “Could you confirm for me one of the items on your order?” It does two jobs.
First, it confirms you are both thinking of the same transaction. If you call about a watch from LotsaExpensiveStuff.com and the person is thinking of a sweater they ordered last month, asking what they bought clears up the confusion and may surface a recent unauthorized charge they did not know about. Second, if you are not speaking with the cardholder, a pause of several seconds while the person works out what they supposedly bought is a frequent giveaway.
A few expert techniques help:
- Frame the call as routine. Explain that you are reaching out from the company’s Customer Service department. A neutral, friendly opening keeps a real cardholder comfortable and gives a fraudster nothing to react to.
- Plant a detail you know is wrong. Mention an item or a shipping city that does not match the order, then listen to the tone of voice and any background noise. A real cardholder usually corrects you right away. Use this sparingly, never on a call where it could confuse a real customer into confirming a charge, and never as the only basis for your decision.
- Notice who calls whom. Be suspicious of customers who cannot answer a call but are willing to call you.
Beyond those, watch for hesitation on basic order details, scripted-sounding answers, and pressure to release the order quickly. Treat each as one signal among several. Plenty of real customers are flustered by an unexpected call, so stay polite and never accuse anyone on the phone.
Alternatives to a verification call
A verification call should be treated as just one of many tools at your disposal. When the order doesn’t justify a call, or you can’t reach the cardholder, consider step-up authentication, a one-time code sent to the number on file, or a document check for the highest-risk cases. Automated Workflows can route these checks based on risk, so analysts spend phone time only where it pays off.
After the call
After the verification call ends, make sure that you close the loop. Document what you asked, what the person said, and why you released or canceled the order. If the call confirmed a fraud pattern, feed it back into your rules so the next similar order is caught earlier. If it cleared a legitimate customer who was flagged, that is useful data too, because it shows where your rules are creating friction.
Read more if you’re interested in learning more about payment fraud, and how Sift can help your company’s fraud team.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to verify an order by email?
Generally no. Email addresses are easy to create, and a criminal who has taken over the real customer’s account can answer the message. Use email for follow-up, but not for releasing a risky order.
What should I ask a cardholder on a verification call?
Start with a simple, low-risk question, like asking the name of one item from the order that was placed. Avoid reading out sensitive details yourself.
Why are VoIP numbers riskier?
They can be created in minutes, so fraudsters use them to appear reachable while staying anonymous. A VoIP line is a signal worth weighing, not proof of fraud.
