Telephone network credit card calling apparatus and method of operation to determine validation and fraudulent use of credit cards in placing telephone calls

• US 5,163,086 A
• Filed: 12/31/1990
• Issued: 11/10/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T, Inc.
• Inventors: Cottrell, Daniel D., Razavi, Hamid C., Ahearn, Kathleen M., Albal, Nandakishore A., Harris, Richard M., Ladieu-Walton, Julie M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F.
• Application Number:
  US07/636,051
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 379/91, 379/143-145, 379/154, 379/155, 379/130-132, 379/123, 379/32, 379/33
• US Class Current: 379/91.02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4037 Remote solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/02 Coin-freed or check-freed systems , e.g. mobile- or card-operated phones, public telephones or booths

Abstract

Apparatus and method of controlling a telephone network to establish connections between calling and called telephone stations in accordance with dialed telephone numbers identified by ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards. The apparatus responds to the receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number from a calling telephone by identifying a company having issued the credit card assigned the received credit card number. A data link connection is established with a data base maintained by the identified company and the received credit card number is transmitted to the identified company during the call sequence for a determination of the validity of the received credit card number. The apparatus controls the telephone network to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the called telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity of the credit card and to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the identified credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation of the credit card or upon identifying the credit card as fraudulent.

Claims

1. A telephone network for establishing connections between calling and called telephones in accordance with dialed telephone numbers identified with ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards comprising

means having data links interconnecting the telephone network with a plurality of data bases each maintained by a credit card company and which is responsive to receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number dialed from a calling telephone for identifying a company having issued a credit card assigned the received credit card number and for transmitting the received credit card number over one of the data links to a data base maintained by the identified company for a determination of validity and wherein said means determine fraudulent use of the credit card used in placing calls within various periods of time, and

means for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the called telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity and determining non-fraudulent use of the credit card and for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the identified credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation and upon determining fraudulent use of the credit card.

2. The telephone network set forth in claim 1 wherein said identifying and transmitting means comprises

means for matching a predetermined portion of the received credit card number with prerecorded identification classifications each identifying a credit card company having issued credit cards having access to the telephone network.

3. The telephone network set forth in claim 2 wherein said identifying and transmitting means comprises

means enabled upon a failure to match the received credit card number with any of said prerecorded identification classifications for prompting the calling telephone for the credit card number and upon a failure to match the prompted credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications for denying the use of the received credit card number in placing a telephone call on the telephone network.

4. The telephone network set forth in claim 3 wherein said identifying and transmitting means comprises

means enabled upon a match of the received credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications for identifying a credit card company having issued a credit card assigned the received credit card number and for establishing a data connection over one of the data links with the identified credit card company maintained data base.

5. The telephone network set forth in claim 4 wherein said identifying and transmitting means comprises

means for transmitting a request for a validity check of the credit card assigned the received credit card number over the established data link connection to the data base maintained by the identified credit card company.

6. The telephone network set forth in claim 5 wherein said establishing means comprises

means enabled upon receiving information identifying non-validation of the credit card from the identified credit card company for denying the use of the received credit card number in placing a telephone call on the telephone network.

7. The telephone network set forth in claim 6 wherein said establishing means comprises

means enabled upon receiving on-line information identifying validation of the dialed credit card number over the established data link connection from the identified credit card company for determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within the predefined intervals of time.

8. The telephone network set forth in claim 7 wherein said establishing means comprises

means enabled upon determining that said usage has exceeded a predefined threshold number within a predefined time interval for identifying the received credit card number as fraudulent and denying use of the credit card in placing a telephone call on the telephone network.

9. The telephone network set forth in claim 8 wherein said establishing means comprises

means enabled upon determining that said usage is less than and equal to said predefined threshold number for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the called telephone number wherein a billing charge for said dialed telephone call is to be billed against the credit card number.

10. The telephone network set forth in claim 8 wherein said establishing means comprises

means enabled upon identifying the credit card associated with the received credit card number as fraudulent for establishing a data connection with a security organization and transmitting said identified fraudulent credit card number and calling telephone number thereto.

11. A telephone network for establishing connections between calling and called telephones in accordance with dialed telephone numbers identified with ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards comprising

means having data links interconnecting the telephone network with a plurality of data bases each maintained by a credit card company and which is responsive to receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number dialed from a calling telephone for identifying a credit card and a company having issued a credit card associated with the received credit card number and for transmitting the received credit card number to the identified credit card company for a determination of the validity of the credit card,

means enabled upon receiving information identifying validity of the credit card from the identified credit card company for determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within predefined intervals of time,

means enabled upon determining that said usage has exceeded a predefined threshold number of telephone calls within a predefined time interval for identifying the credit card as fraudulent, and

means for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the dialed telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity of the credit card and for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation of the credit card and upon identifying the credit card as fraudulent.

12. Apparatus for use with a telephone network for controlling the telephone network to establish connections between calling and called telephones in accordance with telephone numbers identified with ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards comprising

means connected with and responsive to receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number from the telephone network for identifying a credit card associated with the received credit card number and a credit card company having issued the credit card and for establishing a data connection over a data link connecting the telephone network with a data base maintained by the identified credit card company and transmitting the received credit card number to the identified credit card company data base for a determination of validity of the identified credit card,

means enabled upon receiving information identifying non-validation of the credit card from the identified credit card company data base for controlling the telephone network to deny use of the credit card in placing a telephone call on the telephone network,

means enabled upon receiving information identifying validation of the credit card from the identified credit card company for determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within predefined intervals of time and upon determining that said usage has exceeded predefined threshold numbers of telephone calls within the predefined time intervals for identifying the credit card as fraudulent, and

means for controlling the telephone network to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the telephone number upon receiving validation of the credit card and determining that said usage is less than or equal to said threshold number and to establish a network connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon determining said usage has exceeded said threshold numbers within the predetermined intervals of time.

13. A telephone network for establishing connections between calling and called telephone in accordance with dialed telephone numbers identified by calling party credit cards comprising

means responsive to receipt of a telephone number and a credit card number dialed from a calling telephone for matching a predetermined portion of the received credit card number with prerecorded identification classifications each identifying a credit card company having issued credit cards having access to the telephone network,

means enabled upon a failure to match the received credit card number with any of said prerecorded identification classifications for prompting the calling telephone for the credit card number and upon a failure to match the prompted credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications for denying use of the received credit card number in placing a telephone call on the telephone network,

means enabled upon a match of the received credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications for identifying a credit card assigned the received credit card number and the credit card company having issued the identified credit card and for establishing a data connection over a data link connecting the telephone network with a data base maintained by the identified credit card company data base,

means for transmitting a request for a validity check of the credit card over the established data link connection with the credit card company,

means enabled upon receiving information identifying non-validation of the credit card from the credit card company for denying use of the received credit card number in placing a telephone call on the telephone network,

means enabled upon receiving information identifying validation of the credit card over the established data connection for determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within predefined intervals of time,

means enabled upon determining that said usage has exceeded predefined threshold numbers of telephone calls within the predefined time intervals for identifying the credit card as fraudulent and denying use of the credit card in placing a telephone call on the telephone network, and

means enabled upon determining that said usage is less than and equal to said predefined threshold numbers for establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the received telephone number wherein a charge for said connection telephone is to be billed to the credit card.

14. A method of operating a telephone network for establishing connections between calling and called telephones in accordance with telephone numbers identified by ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards comprising the steps of

receiving a telephone number and a credit card number from a calling telephone and identifying a credit card assigned the received credit card number and a company having issued the identified credit card and transmitting the received credit card number to the identified company over a data link connecting the telephone network with a data base maintained by the identified company for a determination of the validity of the credit card,

determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within predefined intervals of time and identifying the credit card as fraudulent when the usage has exceeded predefined threshold numbers of telephone calls within the predefined time intervals,

establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the received telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity of the credit card and after determining that the usage is less than and equal to the threshold numbers and establishing a connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation of the credit card and upon identifying the credit card as fraudulent.

15. The method of operating the telephone network set forth in claim 14 further comprising the step of

establishing an on-line data connection with a security organization and transmitting the received credit card number of an identified fraudulent credit card number and calling telephone number of the calling telephone thereto.

16. A method of operating a telephone network for establishing connections between calling and called telephones in accordance with telephone numbers identified with ones of a plurality of calling party credit cards comprising the steps of

receiving a telephone number and a credit card number from a calling telephone and matching a predetermined portion of the received credit card number with prerecorded identification classifications each identifying a credit card company having issued credit cards having access to the telephone network,

prompting the calling telephone station for the credit card number upon a failure to match the received credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications and denying use of the received credit card number in placing a telephone call on the telephone network when the prompted credit card number fails to match one of the prerecorded identification classifications,

identifying a credit card assigned the received credit card number and a company having issued the identified credit card and establishing a data connection over a data link connecting the telephone network with a data base maintained by the company upon a match of the predetermined portion of the received credit card number with one of the prerecorded identification classifications,

denying use of the identified credit card in placing a telephone call on the telephone network upon receiving information identifying non-validation of the credit card from the company,

determining usage of the credit card in placing telephone calls on the telephone network within predefined intervals of time upon receiving information identifying validation of the credit card over the established data connection,

identifying the credit card as fraudulent and denying use of the identified fraudulent credit card in placing a telephone call on the telephone network upon determining that the usage has exceeded predefined threshold numbers of telephone calls within the predefined time intervals, and

establishing a network connection between the calling telephone and a telephone identified by the received telephone number upon receiving validation of the validity of the credit card and after determining that the usage is less than and equal to ones of the threshold numbers and establishing a connection between the calling telephone and an announcement circuit stating that the credit card cannot be used for telephone calls upon receiving non-validation of the credit card and upon identifying the credit card as fraudulent.