System and method for preventing coupon fraud

• US 20050114211A1
• Filed: 10/07/2004
• Published: 05/26/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Catalina Marketing Corporation
• Original Assignee: Catalina Marketing Corporation
• Inventors: Amjadi, Kamran
• Application Number:
  US10/959,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20050114211A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.260
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]

Abstract

A system and method is provided for preventing coupon fraud. Discount incentives, such as coupons, are examined at the point of sale to determine if the incentive has been altered. The invention also provides a discount incentive having enhanced security feature, such as embedded authentication data. The embedded authentication data may be viewed using a decoder to determine the validity of the incentive.

Claims

1. A method for detecting fraud in a discount incentive at a point of sale, the method comprising:

receiving, by a retailer located at the point of sale, a discount incentive having at least one visible security element and at least one non-visible security element;

using a decoder with the discount incentive to reveal at least one of the at least one non-visible security elements; and

comparing the at least one visible security element to the at least one revealed non-visible security element to determine whether the discount incentive is valid.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one visible security element includes a plurality of barcodes;

the at least one non-visible security element includes a plurality of barcodes; and

wherein the method further comprises;

scanning one of the at least one visible security elements to retrieve first information;

scanning one of the at least one non-visible security elements to retrieve second information; and

comparing the first information to the second information to determine if the first and second information are the same.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein using a decoder with the discount incentive further comprises placing the decoder over the discount incentive to reveal at least one or the at least one non-visible security elements.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein placing the decoder over the discount incentive comprises aligning a guide on the decoder with a guide on the discount incentive.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the decoder includes an optical scanner.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one non-visible security element includes an embedded image displaying a value of the discount incentive, and wherein the method further comprises:

revealing the embedded image using the decoder; and

comparing a value printed on the discount incentive with the revealed embedded image.

12. The discount incentive of claim 11 wherein the date hiding technique is steganography.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein using a decoder to reveal at least one of the at least one non-visible security elements further comprises:

scanning the discount incentive to create an electronic image that is stored on a computer; and

performing a digital image processing operation on the discount incentive to reveal at least one of the at least one non-visible security elements.

7. A discount incentive having hidden security features comprising:

a first barcode providing first information related to at least one of the set including;

a value of the discount incentive and an expiration date for the discount incentive; and

indicia enabling a retailer to authenticate the information provided by the first barcode to validate the discount incentive.

8. The discount incentive of claim 7 wherein the indicia is a series of pixels.

9. The discount incentive of claim 7 wherein the series of pixels is a second barcode having one or more pixels removed from it.

10. The discount incentive of claim 8 further comprising a hidden image indicating a value of the incentive.

11. The discount incentive of claim 8 wherein at least one of the series of pixels and the hidden image is generated using a data hiding technique.

13. The discount incentive of claim 7 wherein the indicia is a series of lines representing a partial second barcode

14. The discount incentive of claim 8 wherein the indicia is a series of dots representing a partial second barcode.

15. A method of preventing the redemption of fraudulent discount incentives comprising:

receiving a discount incentive, the discount incentive comprising

a first barcode providing first information related to at least one of the set including;

a value of the discount incentive and an expiration date for the discount incentive; and

first indicia enabling a retailer to authenticate the information provided by the first barcode to validate the discount incentive;

comparing information retrieved from the first barcode and the first indicia to determine if the information from the first barcode and the first indicia are the same; and

wherein the information from the first barcode and the first indicia are the same, redeeming the discount incentive; and

wherein the information from the first barcode and the first indicia are not the same, denying redemption of the discount incentive.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the first indicia is a series of pixels.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the series of pixels is a second barcode having one or more pixels removed from it.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein comparing information retrieved from the first barcode and the first indicia further comprises:

placing a decoder of the first indicia to reveal the second barcode;

scanning the first barcode; and

scanning the revealed second barcode.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said decoder comprises a mylar sheet comprising second indicia to complement the first indicia.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein said decoder comprises a transparent sheet comprising second indicia to complement the first indicia.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein the discount incentive further comprises a hidden image indicating the value of the incentive, and wherein the method further comprises:

revealing the hidden image using a decoder; and

comparing a value printed on the discount incentive with the revealed hidden image.

23. A system for detecting fraud in a discount incentive at a point of sale, the system comprising:

means for receiving, by a retailer located at the point of sale, a discount incentive having at least one visible security element and at least one non-visible security element;

means for using a decoder with the discount incentive to reveal at least one of the at least one non-visible security elements; and

means for comparing the at least one visible security element to the at least one revealed non-visible security elements to determine whether the discount incentive is valid.