System-based detection of card sharing and fraud

• US 10,628,811 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2016
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsou, Victor, McCormick, Damon, Hawthorne, Kathryne, Fineberg, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): King, Joseph W.
• Application Number:
  US15/070,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20170270497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,498 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/047 using payment protocols involving electronic receipts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules

Abstract

This disclosure describes, in part, a payment service that associates customer profiles with an identifier of a payment instrument, and then uses the customer profiles to identify a customer that is using the payment instrument during a transaction with a merchant. For instance, in some examples, the payment service can identify preferences of customers using transaction information that includes an identifier for a payment instrument, and associate the preferences with respective customer profiles. The payment service can then receive transaction information associated with a transaction between a customer and a merchant, identify preferences of the customer using the transaction information, compare the preferences of the customer with preferences stored in the customer profiles, and identify the customer based on the comparing. The payment service can further generate a receipt for the transaction and send the receipt to contact information of the customer.

Claims

1. A method performed by a server computing system of a payment processing service, the method comprising:

storing, in association with one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, first information associated with a first customer in a first customer profile, the first customer profile being associated with an identifier of a payment instrument;

storing, in association with the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, second information associated with a second customer in a second customer profile, the second customer profile being associated with the identifier of the payment instrument;

receiving, by the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, a request to authorize an account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a transaction, wherein;

the payment instrument is associated with at least the first customer and the second customer via the first customer profile and the second customer profile; and

the request is received from a merchant computing device having installed thereon an instance of a point-of-sale (POS) application configuring the merchant computing device as a POS terminal for generating and transmitting at least the request to authorize the account to the server computing system via a network;

generating, by the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, a receipt for the transaction;

identifying, by the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, one or more preferences associated with the request, wherein the one or more preferences comprises at least one of a type of item purchased in the transaction, a time associated with the transaction, or a location associated with the transaction;

comparing, by the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system, the at least one of the type of item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the first information stored in the first customer profile and with the second information stored in the second customer profile;

determining, by the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system and based at least in part on the comparing, that the request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer; and

sending, from the one or more server computing devices of the server computing system and via the network, the receipt to a customer device associated with the first customer, based at least in part on contact information for the first customer.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a first merchant device associated with a first merchant, a first request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a first transaction;

identifying, based at least in part on the first request, the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least one of a first item preference, a first time preference, or a first location preference of the first customer;

receiving, from the first merchant device or a second merchant device associated with a second merchant, a second request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a second transaction; and

identifying, based at least in part on the second request, the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least one of a second item preference, a second time preference, or a second location preference of the second customer.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the comparing comprises:

comparing the at least one of the type of item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the first item preference, the first time preference, or the first location preference, respectively; and

comparing the at least one of the type of item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the second item preference, the second time preference, or the second location preference, respectively.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least the contact information for the first customer;

based at least in part on the receiving of the first information, generating the first customer profile for the first customer;

receiving the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least contact information for the second customer; and

based at least in part on the receiving of the second information, generating the second customer profile for the second customer.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request to authorize the payment instrument is received from a merchant device associated with a merchant, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining a geographical location of the merchant;

receiving, from a device associated with the first customer, an indication of a current geographic location of the device; and

determining that the current geographic location of the device is within a threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant,

and wherein the determining that the request to authorize the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer is further based on determining that the current geographic location of the device is within the threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first information includes at least one of an age of the first customer, a gender of the first customer, or an education level of the first customer;

the second information includes at least one of an age of the second customer, a gender of the second customer, or an education level of the second customer; and

the one or more preferences associated with the request indicate that the type of item is acquired more often by customers that include the age of the first customer, the gender of the first customer, or the education level of the first customer.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of an additional transaction;

identifying one or more preferences associated with the additional request;

comparing the one or more preferences associated with the additional request with the first information included in the first customer profile and with the second information included in the second customer profile;

determining that the additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is not associated with the first customer or the second customer; and

determining that the additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is fraudulent.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

generating an alert associated with the additional request; and

sending the alert to at least one of the contact information of the first customer or contact information of the second customer.

9. A system associated with a payment processing service, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

storing, in association with one or more server computing devices associated with the system, first information associated with a first customer in a first customer profile, the first customer profile being associated with an identifier of a payment instrument;

storing, in association with the one or more server computing devices, second information associated with a second customer in a second customer profile, the second customer profile being associated with the identifier of the payment instrument;

receiving, by the one or more server computing devices, a request to authorize an account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a transaction, wherein;

the payment instrument is associated with at least the first customer and the second customer via the first customer profile and the second customer profile; and

the request is received from a merchant computing device having installed thereon an instance of a point-of-sale (POS) application configuring the merchant computing device as a POS terminal for generating and transmitting at least the request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument via a network;

generating, by the one or more server computing devices, a receipt for the transaction;

identifying, by the one or more server computing devices, one or more preferences associated with the request, wherein the one or more preferences comprises at least one of an item purchased in the transaction, a time associated with the transaction, or a location associated with the transaction;

comparing, by the one or more server computing devices, the one or more preferences associated with the request with the first information stored in the first customer profile associated with the identifier of the payment instrument and with the second information stored in the second customer profile associated with the identifier of the payment instrument;

determining, by the one or more server computing devices and based at least in part on the comparing, that the request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer; and

sending, from the one or more server computing devices and via the network, the receipt to a customer device associated with the first customer based at least in part on contact information for the first customer.

10. A system as recited in claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from a first merchant device associated with a first merchant, a first request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a first transaction;

identifying, based at least in part on the first request, the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least one of a first item preference, a first time preference, or a first location preference of the first customer;

receiving, from the first merchant device or a second merchant device associated with a second merchant, a second request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a second transaction; and

identifying, based at least in part on the second request, the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least one of a second item preference, a second time preference, or a second location preference of the second customer.

11. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein the comparing comprises:

comparing at least one of the item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the first item preference, the first time preference, or the first location preference, respectively; and

comparing at least one of the item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the second item preference, the second time preference, or the second location preference, respectively.

12. A system as recited in claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least the contact information for the first customer;

based at least in part on the receiving of the first information, generating the first customer profile for the first customer;

receiving the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least contact information for the second customer; and

based at least in part on the receiving of the second information, generating the second customer profile for the second customer.

13. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein the request to authorize the payment instrument is received from a merchant device associated with a merchant, and wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a geographical location of the merchant;

receiving, from a device associated with the first customer, an indication of a current geographic location of the device; and

determining that the current geographic location of the device is within a threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant,

and wherein the determining that the request to authorize the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer is further based on determining that the current geographic location of the device is within the threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant.

14. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein:

the first information includes at least one of an age of the first customer, a gender of the first customer, or an education level of the first customer;

the second information includes at least one of an age of the second customer, a gender of the second customer, or an education level of the second customer; and

the one or more preferences associated with the request indicate that the item is acquired more often by customers that include the age of the first customer, the gender of the first customer, or the education level of the first customer.

15. A system as recited in claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving an additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of an additional transaction;

identifying one or more preferences associated with the additional request;

comparing the one or more preferences associated with the additional request with the first information included in the first customer profile and with the second information included in the second customer profile;

determining that the additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is not associated with the first customer or the second customer; and

determining that the additional request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is fraudulent.

16. A system as recited in claim 15, the operations further comprising:

generating an alert associated with the additional request; and

sending the alert to at least one of the contact information of the first customer or contact information of the second customer.

17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

storing, in association with one or more server computing devices associated with a payment processing service, first information associated with a first customer in a first customer profile, the first customer profile being associated with an identifier of a payment instrument;

storing, in association with the one or more server computing devices, second information associated with a second customer in a second customer profile, the second customer profile being associated with the identifier of the payment instrument;

receiving, by the one or more server computing devices, a request to authorize an account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a transaction, wherein;

the payment instrument is associated with at least the first customer and the second customer via the first customer profile and the second customer profile; and

the request is received from a merchant computing device having installed thereon an instance of a point-of-sale (POS) application configuring the merchant computing device as a POS terminal for generating and transmitting at least the request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument via a network;

generating, by the one or more server computing devices, a receipt for the transaction;

identifying, by the one or more server computing devices, one or more preferences associated with the request, wherein the one or more preferences comprises at least one of an item purchased in the transaction, a time associated with the transaction, or a location associated with the transaction;

comparing, by the one or more server computing devices, the at least one of the item purchased in the transaction, the time associated with the transaction, or the location associated with the transaction with the first information stored in the first customer profile and with the second information stored in the second customer profile;

determining, by the one or more server computing devices and based at least in part on the comparing, that the request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer; and

sending, from the one or more server computing devices and via the network, the receipt to a computing device associated with the first customer based at least in part on contact information for the first customer.

18. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from a first merchant device associated with a first merchant, a first request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a first transaction;

identifying, based at least in part on the first request, the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least one of a first item preference, a first time preference, or a first location preference of the first customer;

receiving, from the first merchant device or a second merchant device associated with a second merchant, a second request to authorize the account associated with the payment instrument for a cost of a second transaction; and

identifying, based at least in part on the second request, the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least one of a second item preference, a second time preference, or a second location preference of the second customer.

19. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

receiving the first information associated with the first customer, the first information including at least the contact information for the first customer;

based at least in part on the receiving of the first information, generating the first customer profile for the first customer;

receiving the second information associated with the second customer, the second information including at least contact information for the second customer; and

based at least in part on the receiving of the second information, generating the second customer profile for the second customer.

20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 17, the operations further comprising:

determining a geographical location of the merchant computing device;

receiving, from a device associated with the first customer, an indication of a current geographic location of the device; and

determining that the current geographic location of the device is within a threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant computing device,

and wherein the determining that the request to authorize the payment instrument is associated with the first customer and not the second customer is further based on determining that the current geographic location of the device is within the threshold distance of the geographic location of the merchant computing device.