Security markers for reducing receipt fraud

• US 20060118740A1
• Filed: 11/02/2005
• Published: 06/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pride Technologies LLC (Pride Capital Partners LLC)
• Inventors: Ross, Gary A., Van Demark, Michael J., McCouaig, Simon J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,501,646 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/556
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 12/00 Powdered glass C03C8/02 takes precedence; Bead compositions
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 3/091 containing aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 3/095 containing rare earths
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 11/03 characterised by features other than the chemical nature of the binder
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/143 Sensing or illuminating at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/66 Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/80 Recognising image objects characterised by unique random patterns

Abstract

A method of reducing receipt fraud comprises attempting to detect emission from a receipt associated with one or more luminescent markers that are incorporated in a valid receipt. The receipt is validated when the attempt is successful.

Claims

1. A method of reducing receipt fraud, the method comprising:

illuminating a receipt;

attempting to detect emission from the receipt associated with one or more luminescent markers incorporated in a valid receipt in response to the illumination; and

validating the receipt when the attempt is successful.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the receipt.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing return of an item whose purchase is indicated by a validated receipt.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein attempting to detect emission from the receipt associated with the one or more luminescent markers comprises attempting to detect photoluminescent emission from the one or more luminescent markers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more luminescent markers each comprise a carrier doped with one or more rare earth elements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the carrier comprises a glass.

7. A method of reducing receipt fraud, the method comprising:

illuminating a receipt incorporating one or more luminescent markers;

detecting luminescent emission from the one or more luminescent markers in response to the illumination;

generating a luminescent signature from the detected emission;

comparing the generated luminescent signature with one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures; and

validating the receipt when the generated luminescent signature matches one or more of the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving the receipt.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising allowing return of an item whose purchase is indicated by a validated receipt.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising retrieving the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein retrieving the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures comprises retrieving the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures from a remote storage.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more luminescent markers each comprise a carrier doped with one or more rare earth elements.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the carrier comprises a glass.

15. A device for reducing receipt fraud, the device comprising:

an illumination source which illuminates a receipt incorporating one or more luminescent markers;

a detector which detects emission from the one or more luminescent markers in response to the illumination; and

a processor which (i) generates a luminescent signature from the detected emission,

(ii) compares the luminescent signature with one or more pre-defined spectral signatures, and

(iii) validates the receipt when the generated luminescent signature matches one or more of the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures.

16. The device of claim 15, further comprising a housing for receiving the receipt and for presenting the receipt to the illumination source.

17. The device of claim 15, further comprising a storage which stores the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures for access by the processor.

18. The device of claim 15, further comprising a communication module for retrieving the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures from a remote storage.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the communication module is a wireless communication module for wirelessly retrieving the one or more pre-defined luminescent signatures from the remote storage.

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the detector detects photoluminescent emission from the one or more luminescent markers.

21. The device of claim 15, wherein the one or more luminescent markers each comprise a carrier doped with one or more rare earth elements.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the carrier comprises a glass.

23. A method of reducing receipt fraud, the method comprising:

receiving a receipt including indicia claiming that the receipt was issued by a retail location;

illuminating the receipt to stimulate luminescence from luminescent markers that may be incorporated therein;

attempting to detect luminescence resulting from the illumination; and

identifying the receipt as a possible forgery in the event that no luminescence is detected.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

generating a spectral signature based on detected luminescence resulting from the illumination;

comparing the generated spectral signature with a known spectral signature associated with the retail location from which the indicia claims the receipt was issued; and

validating the receipt in the event that the generated spectral signature matches the known spectral signature.