A method for assessing sales activity of a merchant using a computer system coupled to a database is provided. The sales activity includes purchases made by a customer using a financial transaction card over a financial transaction card network. The method includes storing within the database a plurality of merchant profiles wherein each merchant profile describes a customer community of the corresponding merchant utilizing the financial transaction card network, determining a violator merchant profile based on a customer community associated with a violator merchant wherein the violator merchant uses the financial transaction card network to engage in at least one of illegal, potentially illegal and undesirable sales activities with at least a portion of the associated customer community, comparing the violator merchant profile to each merchant profile stored within the database, and identifying at least one potential violator merchant for further investigation based on the comparison.