System and method for check fraud detection using signature validation

• US 7,201,323 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2004
• Issued: 04/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitek Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mitek Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Nepomniachtchi, Grigori, Kotovich, Nikolay
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Michael G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Franklin; Jamara A.
• Application Number:
  US11/008,893
• Publication Number:
  US 20060124724A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• Field of Search: 235/487, 382/119, 283/58
• US Class Current: 235/487
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3825 Use of electronic signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• 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 20/403 Solvency checks

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for validating the authenticity of a signature on a document by providing a document from an account, the document including an actual signature and a machine-readable identifier, wherein the machine-readable identifier contains a string of data representing the integral characteristics of all valid account signatures and a person-specific confidence threshold. When the document is presented at a point of presentment, the document is scanned into a document-processing machine and the actual signature is compared against all valid account signatures.

Claims

1. A computer program for preventing check fraud using signature validation, the computer program comprising:

machine readable instructions for creating a fingerprint containing machine-readable data corresponding to authorized account signatures, the fingerprint comprising a on-dimensional skeletonized version of the authorized account signatures;

machine readable instructions for encoding the fingerprint into a barcode; and

machine readable instructions for printing the barcode on a document.

2. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint represents integral characteristics of all valid account signatures.

3. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint identifies a person-specific confidence threshold for each account user.

4. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint is created using a signature encoding algorithm that converts account signature images into a machine-readable data string.

5. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the account signatures are compared against the fingerprint at a point of presentment.

6. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the document is a check.

7. A computer program for preventing check fraud using signature validation, the computer program comprising:

machine readable instructions for creating a one-dimensional fingerprint containing machine-readable corresponding to authorized account signatures;

machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature;

machine readable instructions for encoding the fingerprint into a barcode; and

machine readable instructions for printing the barcode on a check.

8. The computer program of claim 7, further comprising machine readable instructions for determining a person-specific confidence threshold for each account signature based upon the topology of each account signature.

9. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the number of connected components in each signature.

10. The computer program of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the number of holes in connected components for each signature.

11. The computer program of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the size of connected components of each signature.

12. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to build a list of all critical points, including positions and topological indices.

13. The computer program of claim 7, further comprising machine readable instructions for determining signature complexity using a weighted sum of topological features.

14. The computer program of claim 7, wherein the fingerprint represents integral characteristics of all valid account signatures.

15. A computer program for preventing check fraud using signature validation, the computer program comprising:

machine readable instructions for creating a one-dimensional fingerprint containing machine-readable data corresponding to authorized account signatures;

machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature;

machine readable instructions for encoding the fingerprint into a barcode;

machine readable instructions for printing the barcode on a check; and

machine readable instructions for determining a person-specific confidence threshold for each account signature based upon the topology of each account signature.

16. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the number of connected components in each signature.

17. The computer program of claim 16, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the number of holes in connected components for each signature.

18. The computer program of claim 16, wherein the machine readable instructions for evaluating the topology of each account signature are used to determine the size of connected components of each signature.