SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSUMER FRAUD PROTECTION

• US 20140279518A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allowify LLC
• Original Assignee: Jose Antonio Acuna-Rohter
• Inventors: Acuna-Rohter, Jos Antonio
• Granted Patent: US 10,475,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The present invention relates to system and method for authorizing a financial transaction using user-data collected from third party websites, such as Social Media Networks. In operation, collected user-data may be compared to a financial-data collected during a financial transaction to identify potential fraud and/or other discrepancies, confirming the identity of the user with a greater degree of accuracy.

Claims

1. A process for authorizing a financial transaction comprising the steps of:

receiving transaction-data related to said financial transaction from a financial institution over a communication network;

receiving user-data from a third-party information source; and

comparing said transaction-data to said user-data to authorize or deny said financial transaction.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said user-data is selected from a list of approved merchants, unapproved merchants, shared locations, user behaviors, or calendar events.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said third-party information source is a social media network.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial transaction is associated with a financial account at said financial institution.

5. The process according to claim 4, wherein said financial account is linked to a user account at said third-party information source by a user.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial institution is authorized to retrieve said user-data prior to authorizing said financial transaction.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial-data comprises a transaction location, and said financial transaction is authorized if said transaction location is within a predetermined distance of said user-data.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial-data comprises a merchant name, and said financial transaction is authorized if said merchant name is contained in said user-data.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial-data comprises a transaction category type, and said financial transaction is authorized if said transaction category type is contained in said user-data.

10. The process according to claim 1, wherein said user-data comprises a list of allowed behavior types, and said financial transaction is authorized if said allowed behavior type matches a behavior category contained in said financial-data.

11. The process according to claim 1, wherein said user-data comprises a list of prohibited behavior types, and said financial transaction is denied if said prohibited behavior type matches a behavior type contained in said financial-data.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein said user-data comprises a user location and said financial-data comprises a merchant location, and said financial transaction is authorized if said user location is within a predetermined distance of said merchant location.

13. The process according to claim 1, wherein said user-data comprises a transaction type related to a calendar event,

and wherein said financial transaction is authorized if said transaction type is contained in said financial-data and a date of said financial transaction is within a predetermined date range of a date of said calendar event.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein said financial-data comprises a transaction merchant name and said user-data comprises a list of blocked merchant names,

and wherein said financial transaction is denied if said transaction merchant name is contained in said list of blocked merchant names.

15. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

if said financial transaction is denied, using a heuristic module to authorize or deny said financial transaction.

16. A transaction authentication system for managing financial transactions, said transaction authentication system comprising:

a data storage device storing a database linking at least one financial account at a financial institution with at least one third-party information source; and

at least one processor, operatively coupled to the data storage device,

wherein, when financial-data related to a financial transaction for the at least one financial account is received at said transaction authentication system, said at least one processor (a) retrieves user-data from said third-party information source and (b) compares said financial-data to said user-data to authorize or deny said financial transaction.

17. The transaction authentication system according to claim 16, wherein said transaction authentication system is facilitated by said financial institution.

18. The transaction authentication system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a linking module that allows a user to link said at least one financial account to said at least one third-party information source.

19. The transaction authentication system according to claim 18, wherein said linking module further allows a user to link a second financial account to said at least one third-party information source and store said link in said database.