What defines a Highly Suspect Merchant?

A Highly Suspect Merchant is defined by a merchant location that has unusually high suspect transactions. This designation typically arises when a business engages in activities that may be indicative of fraud or money laundering, such as an excessive volume of returns, transaction anomalies, or patterns that deviate significantly from normal operating behavior.

Merchants categorized in this way are often under increased scrutiny from financial institutions and payment processors because they represent a higher risk for chargebacks and fraudulent transactions. The emphasis on 'suspect transactions' implies that the merchant may be involved in behaviors that warrant caution, such as accepting payments from risky sources or having a high level of mismatched transaction data.

In contrast, merchants with low transaction volumes or those that have recently started operations may not necessarily be considered "highly suspect" without additional context concerning their transaction patterns. Additionally, a merchant known for maintaining high security standards would actually be viewed positively and would not fall into the category of being highly suspect. Thus, the defining characteristic is the unusually high level of suspect transactions associated with the merchant's operation.