The term “fraud” covers a multitude of malicious activities, applying to the many ways bad actors try to get one over on credit card companies and their customers.

The advent of EMV security standards brought the hammer down on what used to be a commonplace form of point of sale (POS) fraud. In the 12 years since EMV protocols became the gold standard, instances of criminals stealing and counterfeiting plastic cards, or using them without permission, have seen a sharp decline. While that’s great news for businesses that have adopted EMV rules, merchants dragging their feet on following these best practices leave themselves wide open to fraud risk from card skimmers looking to score easy money.

These days, chargeback fraud is a bigger headache for merchants with up-to-date payment technology. This is the harder-to-fight gray area when people go to their bank instead of the merchant when disputing a payment for something they legitimately purchased. Because small businesses face an uphill battle trying to disprove chargeback claims and often lack the resources, manpower, and time necessary to devote to these issues, some might give up on the idea of even trying to fight back. But waving the white flag isn’t always the right answer because merchants with a large number of chargeback complaints could be branded high-risk and pay higher payment processing fees.

Online fraud is another area of concern. These days it’s all too easy for hackers to get their hands on stolen credit card account credentials on places like the dark web. But how successful these fraudsters are when trying to use the stolen goods depends on the security systems at play in a merchant’s payment platform. Sites fortified with fraud prevention tools that safeguard against cyberattacks can render stolen logins useless.