Two teenage credit card fraudsters have been prosecuted following shrewd action by online reseller WStore.

Tony Price, managing director at the company, said that a credit controller spotted an "unusual credit card transaction" and informed the police immediately. As a result, two youths were arrested and a substantial amount of property provided by Wstore was recovered.

"We are always very cautious when it comes to credit card transactions," said Price, adding that credit cards make up about 10 per cent of Wstore's trade. "When an order goes over a certain limit our suspicions are raised and our credit controller did a particularly good job," he said.

WStore has been working with the police to combat this type of fraud since early last year, he added.

Both offenders entered a guilty plea at Southampton Juvenile Court earlier this month after undercover Hampshire Police officers caught them red-handed. The youths were given 100 hours community service and 12 months probation, and were ordered to pay £1000 compensation between them to WStore.

They also had their computer equipment confiscated because it had been used in a criminal activity.

Other resellers should also be wary and increase their vigilance over credit card transactions, warned Price. "Ecommerce is supposed to be about speeding things up and these fraudsters make it difficult for everyone," he said. "Resellers should never release the goods unless they are 100 per cent confident that the order is genuine."

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said: "Credit card fraud is on the up and we are urging resellers to put the necessary security checks in place."

First published in Computer Reseller News