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Fraud & Chargebacks for Caribbean Shopify Stores: A 2025 Survival Guide

September 27, 2025•10 min read•WiFy Plugin Team

Chargebacks are part fraud, part paperwork, part time sink. Whether you use WiPay, FAC/PowerTranz, TiloPay, or another gateway, the rules come from banks and card networks, not Shopify. This guide shows you how to prevent more disputes, win the ones that appear, and keep your ratios healthy.

The moving pieces (who does what)

  • You (the merchant): Ship on time, set clear policies, keep records, fight "friendly fraud."
  • Your gateway (WiPay, FAC, TiloPay, etc.): Authorizes cards, supports tools like 3D Secure, and provides dispute portals and timelines. (WiPay's terms explicitly mention merchant liability for chargebacks and how to contest them.)
  • Shopify: Surfaces Fraud analysis signals (low/medium/high risk) and lets you automate reviews with Flow. If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify also packages and submits evidence for you inside Admin; with third-party gateways you typically submit evidence in the provider portal.

Prevention first: your best "chargeback strategy" is fewer risky orders

1) Use 3D Secure (3DS) where your provider supports it

  • Successful 3DS authentication can shift fraud liability to the issuer (the cardholder's bank). That won't stop all disputes, but it reduces your exposure to "card not present" fraud.
  • Hint for the region: TiloPay documents Cardinal (3DS) and FAC/PowerTranz support network 3DS flows—ask your provider to enable it.

2) Act on Shopify's Fraud analysis signals

  • Treat medium/high-risk orders as "review required." Add rules in Shopify Flow to auto-hold fulfillment until a human checks them.

3) Tighten checkout & shipping hygiene

  • Require CVV, collect full billing address (where supported), and ship with tracking + signature on higher-value orders.
  • Match billing & shipping where possible; for mismatches, verify via email/SMS or request an ID on in-person pickup.

4) Write policies buyers actually read

  • Clear refund/returns, shipping timeframes, and contact info reduce "I didn't get it" disputes.

5) Price in verification friction

  • For certain SKUs/markets, a short verification step costs less than a chargeback.

Reality check: 3DS isn't a shield against all disputes (e.g., "not as described" or "merchandise not received"), and liability shift rules can change by network and program. Keep an eye on provider notices.

Your manual review playbook (10 minutes or less)

Check the order's Fraud analysis:

  • IP vs shipping country, number of attempts, card BIN country, velocity, mismatched emails/phones.
  • Use your CRM: repeat customer? past disputes?
  • If suspicious, respond before fulfillment: request confirmation, split shipments, or cancel/refund.

Automate the triage:

  • With Flow, auto-tag high-risk orders; notify your ops channel; pause fulfillment until approved.

When a chargeback hits: how to respond (and win more)

Deadlines & where to respond

  • Shopify Payments orders: Shopify auto-packages network data and you add extra evidence in Admin; it's sent by the due date.
  • Third-party gateways (WiPay, FAC, TiloPay): respond in the gateway's dispute portal and follow its document checklist. WiPay's terms outline your liability and the right to contest.

Evidence checklist

  • Proof of delivery (tracking, signature, courier proof).
  • Product/service description and refund policy.
  • Correspondence with the customer.
  • For digital: server logs, IP/device data, access logs.
  • Clear, printable images (banks still fax). Avoid links (many reviewers can't click them).

Know your dispute types

  • Fraud/No-auth → 3DS and data help most.
  • Not received → shipping evidence rules here.
  • Not as described → product pages, policies, and message history.

Keep ratios healthy (so networks leave you alone)

  • Track your chargeback-to-sales rate monthly; large spikes can trigger monitoring programs at the card networks (even on 3DS traffic).
  • Proactively refund sketchy orders before they become disputes—refunds don't count as chargebacks.
  • Segment risky channels (certain ads, affiliates) and apply stricter verification there.

Caribbean-specific notes

  • Multiple currencies: If you accept USD and local currency, ensure your checkout currency and invoices match what the bank will see; mismatches invite "I don't recognize this" disputes. (With third-party gateways, checkout charges in your store currency.)
  • Gateway combo stacks: Some providers bundle 3DS via Cardinal or similar; confirm activation and which reason codes it protects in your country.

Sources

Need help setting up fraud protection on your Caribbean store? Install the WiFy Plugin for WiPay integration with built-in security features.

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