Secured electronic communication system

• US 10,559,150 B1
• Filed: 02/27/2019
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HomeAway.com, Inc. (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: HomeAway.com, Inc. (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Monette, Jonathan S., Miller, Aaron, Bloom, Jeffrey A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Tanmay K
• Application Number:
  US16/287,931
• Time in Patent Office: 349 Days
• Field of Search: 340 561
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00817 where the code of the lock can be programmed
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00857 where the code of the data carrier can be programmed
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for detecting that a potential renter of a property is being fraudulently impersonated by a third party during electronic communications with an owner or lessor of the property. Data representing an exchange of electronic messages between an inquirer and a responder are obtained, and may be anonymized to prevent the parties from learning one another'"'"'s identity prior to completing the transaction. The data may be compared to historical inquiries sent by the inquirer, historical inquiries received by the recipient, or other content of the electronic messages to determine a degree of risk that the inquirer'"'"'s account has been compromised or is otherwise being fraudulently represented. The degree of risk may be communicated to the recipient, and may be acted upon by, e.g., blocking messages from an inquirer whose degree of risk exceeds a threshold.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of a server computing device configured with specific computer-executable instructions,

obtaining a plurality of electronic messages exchanged between an inquirer and a responder, wherein the plurality of electronic messages includes an inquiry regarding a rental property associated with the responder;

determining, based at least in part on the identity data and a comparison between content of the plurality of electronic messages and content of electronic messages previously sent by the traveler, a degree of risk that the inquirer is fraudulently impersonating a traveler identified by identity data within the plurality of electronic messages; and

transmitting data representing the degree of risk to the responder.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic messages previously sent by the traveler comprise messages sent to the responder.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic messages previously sent by the traveler comprise messages sent to a different responder associated with a different rental property.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an electronic message from the inquirer;

determining that the electronic message includes the identity data that identifies the traveler;

removing the identity data from the electronic message to form an anonymized electronic message; and

transmitting the anonymized electronic message to the responder.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic messages previously sent by the traveler include a previous inquiry, and wherein the degree of risk is determined based at least in part on the previous inquiry.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the previous inquiry is regarding the rental property associated with the responder.

7. A system comprising:

a data store configured to store computer-executable instructions; and

a processor in communication with the data store, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to at least;

obtain a plurality of electronic messages sent from an inquirer to a responder;

determine, based at least in part on the identity data and a comparison between content of the plurality of electronic messages and content of electronic messages previously sent by the traveler, a degree of risk that the inquirer is fraudulently impersonating a traveler identified by identity data within the plurality of electronic messages; and

transmit data representing the degree of risk to the responder.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain a second plurality of electronic messages sent from the responder to the inquirer.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the degree of risk is determined based at least in part on a comparison between content of the second plurality of electronic messages and content of electronic messages previously sent by the responder.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the degree of risk is determined based at least in part on a comparison between content of the second plurality of electronic messages and content of electronic messages previously received by the traveler.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of electronic messages includes an inquiry regarding a rental property associated with the responder.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the electronic messages previously sent by the traveler include one or more other inquiries, and wherein the degree of risk is determined based at least in part on the one or more other inquiries.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more other inquiries include a previous inquiry regarding the rental property.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more other inquiries include a previous inquiry regarding an attribute of another rental property.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to perform operations including:

obtaining a plurality of electronic messages sent from an inquirer to a responder;

determining, based at least in part on the identity data and a comparison between content of the plurality of electronic messages and content of electronic messages previously sent by a traveler identified by identity data within the plurality of electronic messages, a degree of risk that the inquirer is fraudulently impersonating the traveler; and

transmitting data representing the degree of risk to the responder.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further include removing the identity data from the plurality of electronic messages before they are received by the responder.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the electronic messages previously sent by the traveler are associated with the responder.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further include determining that the degree of risk satisfies a threshold.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further include, in response to determining that the degree of risk satisfies the threshold, causing further electronic messages from the inquirer to be blocked.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of electronic messages include an inquiry regarding a rental property associated with the responder.