RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL

• US 20080140438A1
• Filed: 12/07/2007
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Bares, Gary Marvin
• Application Number:
  US11/952,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140438A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A risk management tool allows a user to enter information about a company of interest to determine if the company demonstrates fraudulent characteristics. The risk management tool contains a fraud radar, a credit velocity indicator, and a fraud database lookup. The credit velocity indicator is a measure of the number of user companies utilizing the risk management tool that are searching for information on the same company. The fraud radar shows a visual representation of the historical fraudulent activity surrounding a given geographical area specified by zip code. The fraud database lookup indicates the matches found for the company of interest and allows a user to drill down on any or all of the matches. These three different measures of risk are combined and displayed graphically for the user, allowing the user to make a better informed decision instead of relying on a single credit resource derived score.

Claims

1. A method for assessing risk associated with an entity, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving user input about the entity through a user interface displayed on a display device of a computer implemented risk management application;

(b) processing by said risk management application said user input about the entity against a fraud database;

(c) displaying graphically on said display device a first data from said processing step (b) in a first portion of said user interface, wherein said first data is displayed as a visual representation of historical fraudulent activity surrounding a given geographical area specified by said user input for the entity, and further wherein said displayed visual representation of historical fraudulent activity shows at least a one of a fraud density, a recency of fraud, and a distance from the entity where said historical fraudulent activity has occurred.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein step (a) further comprises:

receiving user input about the entity that is at least a one of a website URL, a telephone number, a company name, a street address, a zip code, a principal name, and a claimed revenue.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of:

displaying graphically on said display device a second data from said processing step (b) in a second portion of said user interface, wherein said second data is displayed as a visual representation of a number of users utilizing said risk management application that are searching for information on the entity.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein said displaying step further comprises the step of:

displaying said second data in a stop light type format according to a predetermined criteria.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein said displaying step further comprises the steps of:

if said number of users falls in a high range based upon said predetermined criteria, displaying a high velocity indicator in a first color and displaying a medium velocity indicator in a second color and a low velocity indicator in said second color;

if said number of users falls in a medium range based upon said predetermined criteria, displaying said medium velocity indicator in a third color and displaying said high velocity indicator and said low velocity indicator in said second color; and

if said number of users falls in a low range based upon said predetermined criteria, displaying said low velocity indicator in a fourth color and displaying said high velocity indicator and said medium velocity indicator in said second color.

6. The method according to claim 4 wherein said predetermined criteria is based upon said number of users and a size of the entity.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein said displaying step (c) further comprises the step of:

displaying said visual representation of historical fraudulent activity as a vertical bar graph having a plurality of vertical bars, wherein each of said vertical bars is comprised of a plurality of sections, and each of said vertical bars is positioned at a distance from a first vertical bar, which represents the entity, wherein each said distance represents to scale a distance between a zip code of the entity and a plurality of zip codes within a predetermined radius from said zip code of the entity.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein said displaying step further comprises the steps of:

displaying a first component of each of said vertical bars to represent a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than one year from a current date;

displaying a second component of each of said vertical bars to represent a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than two years but more than one year from a current date;

displaying a third component of each of said vertical bars to represent a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than three years but more than two years from a current date; and

displaying a fourth component of each of said vertical bars to represent a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of more than three years from a current date.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein said displaying step further comprises the steps of:

displaying said first components of each of said vertical bars in a fifth color;

displaying said second components of each of said vertical bars in a sixth color;

displaying said third components of each of said vertical bars in a seventh color; and

displaying said first components of each of said vertical bars in an eighth color.

10. The method according to claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

receiving mouse hover input over a one of said plurality of vertical bars;

displaying a pop-up window in said first portion of said user interface, wherein said pop-up window contains data about a number of fraudulent entities having a zip code represented by said one of said plurality of vertical bars.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein said displaying step further comprises the steps of:

displaying in said pop-up window at least a one of the following items of information associated with said one of said plurality of vertical bars;

a distance from said zip code of the entity to said zip code of said number of fraudulent entities, a fraud density, a most common modus operandi of fraud, a most common industry, a most recent fraud event, and a total number of fraud events less than one year from said current date.

12. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of:

displaying graphically on said display device a third data from said processing step (b) in a third portion of said user interface, wherein said third data is displayed as a list of a number of types of matches of the entity against said fraud database.

13. The method according to claim 12 wherein said displaying step further comprises the step of:

displaying at least a one of the following types of matches;

a phone match, a website match, a company name match, a principal name match, an address match, and a zip code match.

14. A tangible computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method for assessing risk associated with an entity, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving user input about the entity through a user interface displayed on a display device of a computer implemented risk management application;

(b) processing by said risk management application said user input about the entity against a fraud database;

(c) displaying graphically on said display device a first data from said processing step (b) in a first portion of said user interface, wherein said first data is displayed as a visual representation of historical fraudulent activity surrounding a given geographical area specified by said user input for the entity, and further wherein said displayed visual representation of historical fraudulent activity shows at least a one of a fraud density, a recency of fraud, and a distance from the entity where said historical fraudulent activity has occurred;

(d) displaying graphically on said display device a second data from said processing step (b) in a second portion of said user interface, wherein said second data is displayed as a visual representation of a number of users utilizing said risk management application that are searching for information on the entity; and

(e) displaying graphically on said display device a third data from said processing step (b) in a third portion of said user interface, wherein said third data is displayed as a list of a number of types of matches of the entity against said fraud database.

15. The tangible computer readable storage medium according to claim 14 further comprising the steps of:

displaying said first data as a vertical bar graph having a plurality of vertical bars, wherein each of said vertical bars is comprised of a plurality of sections, and each of said vertical bars is positioned at a distance from a first vertical bar, which represents the entity, wherein each said distance represents to scale a distance between a zip code of the entity and a plurality of zip codes within a predetermined radius from said Zip code of the entity;

displaying said second data in a stop light type format according to a predetermined criteria; and

displaying said third data as at least a one of the following types of matches;

a phone match, a website match, a company name match, a principal name match, an address match, and a zip code match.

16. A computer system for assessing risk associated with an entity, the computer system comprising:

a memory;

a processor connectable to said memory;

a risk management software application program executable by said processor when loaded into said memory;

a fraud database accessible by said risk management software application program;

a user interface of said risk management software application program for receiving input from a user about the entity, wherein said input from said user about the entity is processed by said risk management software application program against said fraud database;

a display device for displaying output from said risk management software application program to said user; and

a first data from said processing of said input, wherein said first data is displayed in a first portion on said display device, wherein said first data comprises;

a visual representation of historical fraudulent activity surrounding a given geographical area specified by said input for the entity, wherein said displayed visual representation of historical fraudulent activity shows at least a one of;

a fraud density;

a recency of fraud; and

a distance from the entity where said historical fraudulent activity has occurred.

17. The system according to claim 16 wherein said user input about the entity that is at least a one of a website URL, a telephone number, a company name, a street address, a zip code, a principal name, and a claimed revenue.

18. The system according to claim 17 further comprising:

a second data from said processing of said input, wherein said second data is displayed in a second portion on said display device, wherein said second data comprises;

a visual representation of a number of users utilizing said risk management software application program that are searching for information on the entity.

19. The system according to claim 18 further comprising:

a stop light type format for displaying said second data according to a predetermined criteria.

20. The system according to claim 19 wherein said stop light format further comprises:

a high velocity indicator, wherein if said number of users falls in a high range based upon said predetermined criteria, said high velocity indicator is displayed in a first color;

a medium velocity indicator, wherein if said number of users falls in a medium range based upon said predetermined criteria, said medium velocity indicator is displayed in a second color; and

a low velocity indicator, wherein if said number of users falls in a low range based upon said predetermined criteria, said low velocity indicator is displayed in a third color.

21. The system according to claim 19 wherein said predetermined criteria is based upon said number of users and a size of the entity.

22. The system according to claim 21 wherein said visual representation of historical fraudulent activity further comprises:

a vertical bar graph having a plurality of vertical bars, wherein each of said vertical bars is comprised of a plurality of sections, and each of said vertical bars is positioned at a distance from a first vertical bar, which represents the entity, wherein each said distance represents to scale a distance between a zip code of the entity and a plurality of zip codes within a predetermined radius from said zip code of the entity.

23. The system according to claim 22 wherein each of said vertical bars further comprises:

a first component which represents a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than one year from a current date;

a second component which represents a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than two years but more than one year from a current date;

a third component which represents a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of less than three years but more than two years from a current date; and

a fourth component which represents a number of fraudulent entities having a recency of more than three years from a current date.

24. The system according to claim 22 further comprising:

a pop-up window displayable in said first portion of said display device when mouse hover input over a one of said plurality of vertical bars is received, wherein said pop-up window further comprises;

a data about a number of fraudulent entities having a zip code represented by said one of said plurality of vertical bars.

25. The system according to claim 24 wherein said data about a number of fraudulent entities further comprises at least a one of the following items of information associated with said one of said plurality of vertical bars:

a distance from said zip code of the entity to said zip code of said number of fraudulent entities;

a fraud density;

a most common modus operandi of fraud;

a most common industry;

a most recent fraud event; and

a total number of fraud events less than one year from said current date.

26. The system according to claim 16 further comprising:

a third data from said processing of said input, wherein said third data is displayed in a third portion on said display device, wherein said third data comprises;

a list of a number of types of matches of the entity against said fraud database.

27. The system according to claim 26 wherein said list further comprises at least a one of the following types of matches:

a phone match;

a website match;

a company name match;

a principal name match;

an address match; and

a zip code match.