High Risk Businesses and Services
Industry insights and analysis to help platforms and payment service providers evaluate and action merchants offering services that pose elevated regulatory and card network risk.
High-risk services are ones that pose a greater potential for abuse or harm to consumers, which is why it’s essential to understand the regulatory and card network rules that govern them. LegitScript offers insights that help platforms and payment services providers evaluate these services with confidence. Our policy expertise and regulatory knowledge support better policy making and decisioning during merchant onboarding and merchant monitoring.
Merchants offering high-risk business models — everything from negative-option billing and multilevel marketing to sweepstakes casinos and loans — expose them to greater chargebacks, fraud, and regulatory scrutiny.
Blog Articles
Latest Blog Article
Illicit IPTV: What Every Payments Team Needs to Know
April 16, 2026
Streaming piracy isn’t just a headache for Hollywood — it’s a growing liability for payments companies. Learn how illicit IPTV works, why it almost always involves transaction laundering, and what payments teams should look for when assessing merchant risk.
Payment Processing as a Frontline Compliance Signal in Telehealth
As telehealth and digital pharmacy models mature, what began as a convenience-driven expansion of care has evolved into a structurally important component of the healthcare ecosystem. With that maturity comes new demands, not just in how care is delivered and marketed, but in how it is paid for. Read more.
March 2, 2026
What You Need to Know about VIRP Updates to Adult, Escort, and Dating Merchants
Late last year, Visa began enforcing new standards within the Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) that affect adult content, dating services, and escort services. These updates raise expectations for merchant classification, transparency, and compliance. Keep reading to learn about these changes.
February 16, 2026
by Erin Feebeck
Guides
Merchant Website Analysis Tip Sheet
Designed for payments risk and compliance teams, this helpful sheet offers practical tips when reviewing merchant websites.
2 pages
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Top 10 High-risk Trends That Put Your Internet Platform at Risk
Learn about recent high-risk trends on the commercial internet that can harm consumers and damage your reputation.
36 pages
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Seasonal High-risk Trends Everyone in Payments Should Watch Out For
Gain insight into seasonal high-risk trends in card-not-present transactions that all payment service providers should be aware of.
48 pages
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Mugshots Map
Learn how certain mugshot websites could result in fines for acquirers and payment providers that onboard them.
1 page
Webinars
On Demand
Connecting the Dots: How Investigation Teams Build Networks and Disrupt Criminal Ecosystems
This session from the 2026 San Francisco Marketplace Risk Management Conference features a panel discussion on how investigation teams build network intelligence to disrupt criminal ecosystems. The speakers, including representatives from TikTok and LegitScript, explore the complexities of identifying coordinated bad actors.
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On Demand
Trust and Safety Isn’t a Cost Center: It’s a Growth Engine
This session from the 2026 San Francisco Marketplace Risk Management Conference covers the role of trust and safety teams as a “growth engine” and how professionals in this field can navigate internal challenges and perceptions. Watch now on demand.
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On Demand
Trust Is Getting Harder to Prove: Rethinking Merchant Underwriting in the Age of AI
Leading payment service providers are rethinking onboarding and underwriting in a future undergirded by AI, moving beyond KYC to verify merchant intent, apply risk-based friction, and continuously defend their portfolios. Learn what durable trust models look like in the AI age.
