> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.middesk.com/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.middesk.com/_mcp/server. # Prohibited categories > Complete list of prohibited and high-risk industry categories that Middesk Industry Classification can identify. This reference lists all prohibited categories that Industry Classification can return. Use these categories to: * Identify prohibited or high-risk industries * Screen businesses for compliance Each classification request returns a set of category labels and associated prediction confidence for each industry in which the business may operate. ## Supported prohibited categories for an industry classification request This table shows all prohibited industry categories that the industries that Middesk can identify. You'll receive these classifications whether or not you include a website URL in your request. | Name | Category | Example | High-Risk flag returned? | | --------------------------------- | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | | Adult Content | ADULT\_CONTENT | Pornography Dating Sites Pay-per-View Chat | TRUE | | Financial Aggregation | AGGREGATION | Factoring Payment Processors Crowdfunding | TRUE | | Cannabis | CANNABIS | Manufacturers Distributors Dispensaries | TRUE | | Counterfeit Goods / Branded Goods | BRANDED\_GOODS | Businesses selling (Fake) Brand Name Goods Unauthorized Resellers | TRUE | | Drug of Concern | DRUG\_OF\_CONCERN | Legal substance that provides the same effect as an illegal drug (like salvia, kratom) | TRUE | | Drug Paraphernalia | DRUG\_PARAPHERNALIA | Drug Manufacturing Items for Drug Use | TRUE | | Gambling | GAMBLING | Casinos Online Gambling Fantasy Sports | TRUE | | Get Rich Quick | GET\_RICH\_QUICK | Companies Promoting High Yield Investment Opportunities or Services | TRUE | | Gift Cards | GIFT\_CARD | Gift Cards | TRUE | | High-Risk | HIGH\_RISK | These categories traditionally present higher risks of fraud, excessive chargebacks, or money laundering. Examples: Diet Centers Health Clubs Country Clubs The use of credit to pay for lending service Credit card and identity theft protection Government grants Subscriptions over one year Hair Extensions Telemarketing Embassy Extended warranties Phone services Prepaid phone cards Circumvention, jamming and interference devices Timeshares | TRUE | | Investment and Credit | INVESTMENT\_CREDIT | Securities Brokers Lending Instruments Credit Repair | TRUE | | Money and Legal | MONEY\_LEGAL | Bail Bonds Collections Agencies Adoption Services | TRUE | | Multi-level Marketing | MULTI\_LEVEL\_MARKETING | Multi-level Marketing Pyramid Schemes | TRUE | | Pseudo Pharmaceuticals | PSEUDO\_PHARMACEUTICAL | Nutraceuticals Products making health claims not approved by the FDA | TRUE | | Regulated Products | REGULATED\_ILLEGAL | Weapons / Firearms Tobacco and E-Cig Prescription Drugs | TRUE | | Social Media Activity | SOCIAL\_MEDIA\_ACTIVITY | Sale of Twitter Followers Sale of Online Traffic Sale of YouTube Views | TRUE | | Virtual Currency | VIRTUAL\_CURRENCY | Initial Coin Offerings Digital Wallets Video Game Credits | TRUE | | Other Non-Prohibited | OTHER\_NON\_PROHIBITED | This label returns with high confidence when Middesk assesses the risk of the business operating in a prohibited industry as low | FALSE | ## Card network risk programs The Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) and the Mastercard Specialty Merchant Registration Program (SMRP) are card network registration programs for legal but high-risk merchant categories, keyed by MCC. Acquirers must register merchants that operate in these categories before processing their transactions. VIRP tiers its categories by the type of harm they present; SMRP is a flat, untiered list. | VIRP tier | Harm type | Example categories | | --------- | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | Health and safety | Adult content, dating, gambling, pharmacy | | 2 | Financial | Cryptocurrency, cyberlockers, skill games | | 3 | Regulatory or deceptive | High-risk trading platforms, telemarketing, negative option billing, tobacco | A flag is not a bare MCC match. For broad MCCs, a flag requires confirmed qualifying activity: MCC 6051 flags only for actual cryptocurrency activity, not for money orders that share the code. Most categories are also in-program only for card-not-present activity, so a storefront-only merchant may not be flagged even when its MCC appears in a program. Middesk surfaces these programs as `risk_program_flags` on [industry classification categories](/online-presence/industry-classification/classification). These flags are available only when you order Risk. Industry classification ordered on its own does not return them. > **Get a demo** > > Contact your account manager or [contact sales](https://www.middesk.com/contact-sales) to inquire about access.