Where a fraud notification comes from
When a cardholder tells the issuer that a payment was not theirs, the issuer reports the transaction to the card scheme: to Visa in a TC40 report, and to Mastercard's Fraud and Loss Database. The data reaches the merchant side by two routes.
Acquirers receive the schemes' fraud data and pass it on. Under Mastercard's Security Rules and Procedures of 4 August 2026 (6.2.2.9), an acquirer must be able to give a merchant its fraud and chargeback data on request, at least monthly. Alert networks are faster: an Ethoca fraud alert tells the merchant that a cardholder has reported a transaction as potentially unauthorised.
What a merchant does with a fraud notification
- Stop fulfilment if the goods have not shipped
- Refund, where that will prevent the chargeback
- Block the card, device and account involved in new orders
- Review other orders linked to the same details
- Feed the case into fraud rules and models as a confirmed label
Mastercard's Fraud Notification Service
Mastercard also uses the name for a specific mechanism. In its Chargeback Guide of 13 May 2025, the Fraud Notification Service counts an issuer's fraud-related chargebacks on a card account. An acquirer may reject a fraud chargeback where the issuer approved the transaction after submitting two or more such chargebacks on the same account, or where more than 35 have been submitted on it.
Fraud notification or dispute notification?
- Dispute notification
- Reports that a cardholder's claim is being pursued against the merchant, for any reason. A fraud notification reports the issuer's fraud report, with or without a dispute.
- Chargeback
- The filed dispute, which debits the acquirer. A fraud report alone debits no one.
Where a fraud notification shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- NotificationsEmail, SMS, push and in-app messages in your brand, through the providers you choose.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- Analytics & monitoringProduct analytics, attribution, engagement and crash reports, on a tracking plan you control.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, 4 August 2026: 6.2.2.9 (Mastercard)
- Mastercard Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition, 13 May 2025 (Mastercard)
- Ethoca Alerts for Merchants, product page and guide, read 13 October 2026 (Mastercard Developers)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.