Method and means for limiting adverse use of counterfeit credit cards, access badges, electronic accounts or the like

• US 5,991,411 A
• Filed: 10/08/1996
• Issued: 11/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Sincerbox, Glenn Tavernia, Kaufman, James Harvey
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US08/729,256
• Time in Patent Office: 1,141 Days
• Field of Search: 380/24, 380/25, 380/23, 380/49, 380/50, 380/3, 235/379, 235/380, 340/825.31, 340/825.34, 705/26, 705/35, 705/39, 705/41, 705/44
• US Class Current: 705/67
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• 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 20/4093 Monitoring of device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• 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: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/122 Online card verification

Abstract

A system for rejecting second and subsequent copies of an informationally-equivalent card or badge asserted into a client/server system by processing only those cards having transaction histories recorded thereon by comparison matching a history recorded in a central repository and then rewriting the history on the card and in the repository. The rewritten histories include the current transaction. Counterfeit cards, informationally equivalent to the original card prior to the transaction update of the original card, will be rejected when asserted into the system since their histories mismatch that recorded in the repository.

Claims

1. A system for rejecting second and subsequent copies of an informationally equivalent credit/debit card, identification badge or an electronic artifact thereof asserted by way of one or more client terminals into a client/server system, said cards, badges and terminals having a writable portion thereof, comprising:

(a) means at the server and responsive to an assertion at a terminal or the like of a first card, badge, or an electronic artifact thereof for comparison matching of a history of recent transactions as recorded at the server and on the writable portion of the first card, badge or as a file at a client terminal for the electronic artifact;

(b) means at the server and responsive to a comparison match of the histories for updating and recording the history including a current transaction at the server, on the writable portion of the card or badge, or at the client terminal and, and for continuing the card processing; and

(c) means at the server and responsive to an assertion of alleged other copies of the first card, badge or of an electronic artifact, said means including;

(1) means for repeating step (a) and for suspending further operations with respect to the asserted alleged other copies of the first card, badge, or electronic artifact, if the histories comparison mismatch, and

(2) means for repeating step (b) if the histories comparison match.

2. A method for limiting adverse use of counterfeit copies of a card or badge having indicia coded thereon, said card or badge and said counterfeit copies being used by at least one bearer to secure either access or credit at a gated entry or a point of sale terminal or the like, comprising the steps of:

(a) sensing coded indicia recorded on said card or badge indicative of bearer identity and a history of time-displaced transactions in which said card or badge was asserted;

(b) accessing a record from a database through an information processor indexed according to the bearer identity sensed from said card or badge, said record including a history of time-displaced transactions in which said card or badge was asserted;

(c) comparison matching the history of time-displaced transaction indicia sensed from the card or badge with that in the accessed record;

(d) in the event of a comparison match, appending coded indicia to the database-stored record indicative of a current transaction and overwriting indicia recorded on said card or badge with indicia including that indicative of the current transaction; and

(e) in the event of a comparison mismatch, interrupting further processing of said card or badge and providing signal indication that the card being processed is a questionable or a counterfeit copy.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the card or badge is of a type having permanent identification indicia coded thereon and history of transaction indicia written on a recording medium integral to said card, said recording medium being of a type selected from a set consisting of remanent hysteretic magnetizable media and optically permeable media having selectively alterable reflective or transmissive properties.

4. In a client/server system of a type in which at least a portion of information electronically recorded on cards or badges being dynamically alterable, a first card or badge of a plurality of informationally-equivalent cards or badges when asserted in a client terminal of said system causing the server to be altered from a first to a second state upon a comparison match between information recorded on said first card or badge and previously recorded at the server, a second informationally-equivalent card or badge when asserted at a subsequent point of time in a client terminal causing the server to be altered from a first to a third state upon a comparison mismatch between information recorded on said second card or badge and previously recorded at the server, wherein the improvement comprises the steps of:

(a) sensing information from a card or badge asserted into the client terminal;

(b) accessing a record from a database through a processor at the server as indexed according to the information sensed from said card or badge;

(c) comparing the sensed and recorded information in the form of a history of transactions as sensed from the card or badge with that of a counterpart history located in the accessed record; and

(d) further processing of the card or badge only in the event of a comparison match of the information, appending information to the database-stored record indicative of the current transaction, and overwriting information previously recorded on said card or badge with at least a portion of the history including that indicative of the current transaction.

5. A system for rejecting second and subsequent copies of an informationally-equivalent card or badge asserted into the system, each of said cards or badges including an electronically-rewritable portion thereof, and comprising:

at least one card or badge transducer responsive to the assertion of a card or badge for sensing indicia either permanently or rewritably encoded thereon; and

a processor coupling said card or badge transducer and responsive to the sensed indicia for interpreting at least a portion of the sensed indicia as a card or badge identification, for interpreting another portion of the sensed indicia as a history of transactions associated with said card or badge, and for extracting a record indexed by said identification, said record containing the history of transactions associated with said card from a collection of records, said processor further comprising;

means for comparing the history of transactions sensed from the card or badge with that counterpart history located in the accessed record; and

means for further processing of the card or badge only in the event of a comparison match of the histories, for appending coded indicia to the database-stored record indicative of the current transaction, and overwriting indicia previously recorded on said card or badge with indicia of at least a portion of the history including that indicative of the current transaction.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the means for overwriting indicia previously recorded on said card or badge includes means for deriving an error check code number over the indicia and appending said check number to said indicia, and further wherein said processor includes means for detecting an error or erasure in at least the transaction history portion of the sensed indicia.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the means for overwriting indicia previously recorded on said card or badge includes means for expressing said overwriting indicia in the form of a self-clocking code.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said self-clocking code is selected from a set of codes where changes in Boolean coded values (0,1) are represented differentially in the form of transitions between amplitude states.

9. The system according to claim 6, wherein the means for overwriting indicia recorded on said card or badge includes means for reading back said indicia as overwritten, for computing an error check code number, and for comparison matching said computed check code number with said appended error check code number.

10. A system for rejecting second and subsequent copies of informationally-equivalent electronic credit cards or badges asserted into a client/server system by requesting ones of the client stations, comprising:

(a) means at the server for sensing coded indicia recorded at said requesting client station indicative of identity of said electronic credit card or badge and of a history of time-displaced transactions in which said card or badge was asserted;

(b) means at the server for accessing a record from a database through an information processor indexed according to the card or badge identity sensed from said client station, said record including a history of time-displaced transactions in which said electronic card or badge was asserted;

(c) means at the server for comparison matching the history of time-displaced transaction indicia sensed from said client station associated with said electronic card or badge with that in the accessed record;

(d) means at the server, in the event of a comparison match, for appending coded indicia to the database-stored record indicative of a current transaction and for overwriting or updating indicia recorded at said client station associated with said electronic card or badge with indicia including that indicative of the current transaction; and

(e) means at the server, in the event of a comparison mismatch, for interrupting further processing of said electronic card or badge and for providing signal indication that the card being processed is a questionable or a counterfeit copy.

11. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable memory having stored therein a plurality of processor-executable control program steps for rejecting second and subsequent copies of an informationally-equivalent card or badge asserted into a system including at least one card or badge transducer coupling a processor, said memory coupling said processor, each of said cards or badges including an electronically-rewritable portion thereof, said plurality of stored processor-executable control program steps include:

(a) a control program step for sensing information from a card or badge asserted into the transducer;

(b) a control program step for accessing a record from a database through a processor at the server as indexed according to the information sensed from said card or badge;

(c) a control program step for comparing the sensed and recorded information in the form of a history of transactions as sensed from the card or badge with that of a counterpart history located in the accessed record; and

(d) a control program step for further processing of the card or badge only in the event of a comparison match of the information, appending information to the database-stored record indicative of the current transaction, and overwriting information previously recorded on said card or badge with at least a portion of the history including that indicative of the current transaction.