What evidence gives the best chance of winning a UA02 dispute?

Evidence connecting the cardholder, not just a buyer, to the order: AVS and CVV matches, delivery to the billing address, an IP near the cardholder's location, prior undisputed purchases from the same device or account, and any correspondence showing the cardholder knew about the order. One strong linkage item beats a stack of generic order data.

Does 3-D Secure shift liability on Discover transactions?

Discover's ProtectBuy program can shift fraud liability to the issuer on successfully authenticated transactions, similar to 3-D Secure on other networks. Support varies by acquirer and region, so confirm your MID is enrolled and that authentication results are being passed in the clearing data.

How do I tell friendly fraud from real fraud on a UA02?

Look at linkage and behavior: matching AVS and CVV, delivery to the billing address, account login history, and post-purchase usage all point to the cardholder having made the order. Genuine third-party fraud usually shows mismatched geography, fresh accounts, rushed shipping to unfamiliar addresses, and no prior history.

Discover · Fraud

Reason code UA02: Fraud - Card Not Present Transaction

The cardholder claims they did not authorize a transaction made online, by phone, or by mail where the physical card was never presented. This is Discover's core ecommerce fraud code and covers both true stolen-credential fraud and false claims by cardholders who actually made the purchase. The merchant bears default liability in card-not-present fraud disputes.

Issuer filing window

typically 120 days from the processing date

Merchant response window

typically 30 days to respond

Why UA02 chargebacks happen

Stolen card credentials from a breach or phishing operation were used to place the order.
A cardholder made the purchase, regretted it or forgot it, and reported it as fraud, which is friendly fraud.
A household member or employee used the card without the primary cardholder's knowledge.
Credential-stuffed accounts with stored cards were taken over and used to buy.
Card testing activity on your checkout produced small authorized charges that cardholders later disputed.

How to fight a UA02 chargeback

Compile the identity linkage: AVS full match, CVV match, and consistency between billing name, email, phone, and the cardholder's details.
Submit device and network evidence, including IP geolocation near the billing address, device fingerprint, and any prior sessions from the same device on the same account.
Provide delivery confirmation to the cardholder's verified address, or for digital goods, access and usage logs after purchase.
Show purchase history: earlier undisputed orders from the same account, card, and device undermine a fraud narrative.
Include any direct contact with the customer, such as order-related emails they answered, that demonstrates knowledge of the purchase.
If your data instead corroborates third-party fraud, refund and concede; representing genuine fraud wastes fees and hurts your standing.

How to prevent UA02 chargebacks

Require CVV on every transaction and act on AVS mismatches instead of just recording them.
Run risk scoring that weighs IP-to-billing distance, device reputation, email age, and velocity before capture.
Rate-limit and challenge rapid small-value attempts to shut down card testing on your checkout.
Enroll in Discover ProtectBuy, the network's 3-D Secure program, where your acquirer supports it, to add authentication on risky orders.
Use Ethoca and Verifi alerts to intercept confirmed-fraud reports and refund before they convert into chargebacks.
Delay fulfillment on high-risk orders until a manual review or customer verification completes.

Frequently asked questions

What evidence gives the best chance of winning a UA02 dispute?: Evidence connecting the cardholder, not just a buyer, to the order: AVS and CVV matches, delivery to the billing address, an IP near the cardholder's location, prior undisputed purchases from the same device or account, and any correspondence showing the cardholder knew about the order. One strong linkage item beats a stack of generic order data.
Does 3-D Secure shift liability on Discover transactions?: Discover's ProtectBuy program can shift fraud liability to the issuer on successfully authenticated transactions, similar to 3-D Secure on other networks. Support varies by acquirer and region, so confirm your MID is enrolled and that authentication results are being passed in the clearing data.
How do I tell friendly fraud from real fraud on a UA02?: Look at linkage and behavior: matching AVS and CVV, delivery to the billing address, account login history, and post-purchase usage all point to the cardholder having made the order. Genuine third-party fraud usually shows mismatched geography, fresh accounts, rushed shipping to unfamiliar addresses, and no prior history.

Related Discover codes