Management of communications networks
First Claim
1. A system for determining whether a user associated with a first customer account in a communications network is probably making calls on a further customer account in the network, the system including:
- a data base of customer account information and of account-associated call logging information including called numbers, each customer account comprising customer name and address information, andprocessing means for (a) accessing the database for selecting the further customer account, (k) for obtaining a group of called numbers associated with the first account and a group of called numbers associated with the selected further account, (c) for comparing the respective obtained groups and, if the degree of similarity of the calling characteristics of the two customer accounts meets a predetermined criterion, (d) for providing an indication that the user is probably making calls on the selected further customer account.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fraud detection system is used with a communications network, the network including a billing system having a database of customer account information and of account-associated call logging information including called numbers. Each customer account includes customer name and address information and a settable indicator which when set indicates that the account is a debt account having a predetermined debt status. The fraud detection system is responsive to a debt account accessing, in use, the database for selecting a customer account, for obtaining a group of called numbers associated with the debt account and a group of called numbers associated with the selected customer account are compared. The respectively obtained groups and, if the degree of similarity of the calling characteristics of the two customer accounts meets a predetermined criterion, an indication that the selected customer account is a probable fraudulent-application account is provided.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for determining whether a user associated with a first customer account in a communications network is probably making calls on a further customer account in the network, the system including:
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a data base of customer account information and of account-associated call logging information including called numbers, each customer account comprising customer name and address information, and processing means for (a) accessing the database for selecting the further customer account, (k) for obtaining a group of called numbers associated with the first account and a group of called numbers associated with the selected further account, (c) for comparing the respective obtained groups and, if the degree of similarity of the calling characteristics of the two customer accounts meets a predetermined criterion, (d) for providing an indication that the user is probably making calls on the selected further customer account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of determining whether a user associated with a first customer account in a communications network is probably making calls on a further customer account in the network, the network including a billing system comprising a database of customer account information and of account-associated call logging information including called numbers, each customer account comprising customer name and address information, the method comprising the steps of:
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accessing the database to select the further customer account, obtaining a group of called numbers associated with the first account and a group of called numbers associated with the selected further account, comparing the respective obtained groups and, if the degree of similarity of the calling characteristics of the two customer accounts meets a predetermined criterion, providing an indication that the user is probably making calls on the selected further customer account. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification