How to use Stripe Radar for fraud protection

In this help article, you’ll learn what Stripe Radar is, how it works, and how to enable it to protect your business from fraudulent payments.

What is Stripe Radar?

Stripe Radar is a fraud prevention tool that uses machine learning and customizable rules to help you detect and block fraudulent payments.

With Stripe Radar, you can:

• Block payments when the CVC check fails.
• Block payments when the ZIP/AVS check doesn’t match.
• Flag or block payments from suspicious IP addresses or countries.
• Use the risk score to decline high-risk charges automatically.
• Write custom rules to handle specific cases (for example, block payments from disposable email addresses).

Learn more in Stripe’s Radar documentation

Fees and pricing

When using Stripe Radar, it’s essential to note that fees may vary depending on your Stripe account and location. Basic fraud protection is included in Stripe’s standard pricing; however, advanced features may incur additional charges.

Since pricing policies are updated from time to time, we recommend checking Stripe’s official pricing page or contacting Stripe support directly for the most accurate and up-to-date details.

Configuring Stripe Radar rules

While Stripe's basic fraud detection is always active, you can add custom rules for more control. These rules are managed directly in your Stripe account.

To create a Radar rule:

1. Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
2. From the menu, and under Payments (1), go to Radar (2), then Rules (3). (If you don't see this, you may need to activate this feature for your account).

3. Click Add rule (4) and choose the type of rule that suits your needs, for example: Add block rule (5).

4. Enter the condition you want (for example, if you want to block payments over $5000 from customers who created their account less than 24 hours ago :amount_in_usd: > 5000 and :hours_since_customer_was_created: < 24 ).        

You’ll find a ready-made rule like this in the list of examples when you scroll down.

5. Click on Test rule to preview the impact of the rule before actually enabling it (6).

6. Lastly, click on Add rule to enable it (7).

This is just a simple example of how to set a blocking rule. Stripe offers various types of rules, including both blocking and allowing options, with detailed options that can be explored in their documentation. Learn more about Radar rules from Stripe's full guide.