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Online payments in Qatar are growing rapidly — driven by eCommerce, digital wallets like Apple Pay, and the national Himyan card. But with growth comes risk. One of the fastest-growing threats to your business isn’t a hacker in a hoodie — it’s your own customer. Welcome to the world of friendly fraud.
What Is Friendly Fraud?
Also known as first-party fraud or chargeback fraud, friendly fraud occurs when a customer:
- Makes a legitimate payment using their card
- Then disputes the charge, claiming they didn’t authorize it
- Or falsely reports that they never received the product or service
Sometimes it’s a misunderstanding. Other times, it’s a deliberate tactic to get something for free.
Globally, friendly fraud accounts for over 70% of all chargeback cases. As Qatar shifts from cash to digital payments, the threat is rising—especially for local businesses that lack proper tools to handle disputes.
Types of Friendly Fraud
Friendly fraud generally falls into two categories:
- Unintentional: A customer doesn’t recognize your business name on their bank statement and mistakenly files a dispute.
- Intentional: A customer knowingly disputes a valid transaction to get a refund—while keeping the product or service.
It can also show up in these two common forms:
- Chargeback Fraud: A customer falsely claims the transaction was unauthorized.
- Refund Abuse: A customer uses a product (or damages it), then requests a full refund—or buys something, uses it briefly, and returns it.
Why Friendly Fraud Hurts Your Business
- 💸 Revenue Loss: You lose both the product and the payment.
- 🕒 Operational Costs: Time spent responding to disputes, plus chargeback fees and backend logistics.
- 🚨 Reputation Risk: High chargeback ratios can lead to increased processing fees—or even cause you to lose access to your payment gateway.
How Dibsy Helps You Prevent Friendly Fraud
Dibsy offers merchant-first fraud prevention tools tailored for businesses in Qatar:
- ✅ Clear Billing Descriptors: Ensure your business name appears clearly on customer statements—preventing accidental disputes.
- 📦 Order Verification: Flag high-ticket or risky transactions for manual review. Validate shipping, delivery, or in-store pickup details.
- 📁 Chargeback-Ready Metadata: Dibsy stores logs, receipts, and transaction details—helping you build a strong case during disputes.
- 🚫 Fraud Blacklists: Automatically block repeat offenders based on card data, email behavior, IP, or device ID.
Why Friendly Fraud Is Unique in Qatar
Unlike mature eCommerce markets, many customers in Qatar are still new to online payments and refund processes. That creates a perfect storm for chargebacks born out of confusion or lack of education.
To stay ahead, merchants need both tech and transparency:
- Send digital receipts immediately after purchase
- Avoid vague or generic names in transaction descriptors
- Offer an easy refund process before customers escalate to their bank
Want to go deeper? Read our full post on Chargeback Fraud in Qatar →
Final Word
You can’t prevent every case of friendly fraud—but you can:
- Detect it early
- Fight it with evidence
- Reduce it through smarter processes and tools
Dibsy helps you do all three—with local support, intelligent fraud tools, and payment infrastructure built for the Qatari market.
💬 Ready to stop friendly fraud before it starts?
Let’s talk about how Dibsy can help you protect your revenue and fight back against chargebacks.
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