UPC substitution fraud prevention
First Claim
1. A method of confirming the identity of an item including an identifier, the method comprising:
- acquiring an image of the item including the identifier;
extracting a first set of geometric point features from the image of the item;
reading identification code data from the identifier included with the item;
retrieving from a database a second set of geometric point features based on the identification code data, the database comprising sets of geometric point features associated with a plurality of known items;
comparing via a processor the first set of geometric point features from the image with the second set of geometric point features retrieved based on the identification code data; and
determining whether the item in the image corresponds to the identification code data read from the identifier included with the item based on the comparing of the first set of geometric point features with the second set of geometric point features.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for detecting fraudulent identification tags, such as Universal Product Codes (UPC) applied to goods to be purchased is disclosed. Images of the goods to be purchased and corresponding feature models are stored in a database. When a customer desires to purchase an item containing a UPC, a scanned image of the item about to be purchased may be acquired and a feature model of the scanned image may be created. The system may retrieve from the database the image and feature model previously stored for the item associated with the just-scanned UPC. A variety of image processing techniques may be used to compare the scanned and database images and/or the scanned and database feature models. In one embodiment, these image processing techniques may include determining a geometric transformation that maps the features of the scanned image onto the features of a database model.
132 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of confirming the identity of an item including an identifier, the method comprising:
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acquiring an image of the item including the identifier; extracting a first set of geometric point features from the image of the item; reading identification code data from the identifier included with the item; retrieving from a database a second set of geometric point features based on the identification code data, the database comprising sets of geometric point features associated with a plurality of known items; comparing via a processor the first set of geometric point features from the image with the second set of geometric point features retrieved based on the identification code data; and determining whether the item in the image corresponds to the identification code data read from the identifier included with the item based on the comparing of the first set of geometric point features with the second set of geometric point features. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for confirming the identity of an item including an identification code, the system comprising:
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an optical sensor for capturing an image of the item including the identification code; a feature extractor coupled to the optical sensor for extracting geometric point features from the image; a database comprising a plurality of feature models, each feature model comprising one or more geometric point features, and each feature model associated with at least one of a plurality of known items; and a processor configured to; a) compare the extracted geometric point features to the geometric point features of a feature model stored in the database and selected based on the identification code included with the item; and b) determine whether the item in the image corresponds to the identification code included with the item based on comparison of the extracted geometric point features to the geometric point features of the feature model selected based on the identification code. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of preventing fraudulent purchases of products including identification codes, comprising:
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scanning an identification code included with a product using a point of sale system; acquiring an image of the product; generating geometric feature data from the acquired image of the product; retrieving feature data associated with merchandise based on the scanned identification code; identifying via a processor matching features between the generated geometric feature data and the retrieved feature data, wherein a number of matching features is identified; and generating an alert if the number of identified matching features is below a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (23, 25)
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24. A method of verifying the identity of an item including an identifier, the method comprising:
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acquiring an image of the item including the identifier; reading identification code data from the identifier included with the item; extracting a first set of geometric point features from the image of the item; comparing via a processor the first set of geometric point features from the image with geometric point features from a database, the geometric point features from the database being associated with a plurality of known items; retrieving identification code data from the database based on a match between the first set of geometric point features and geometric point features from the database that are associated with one of the plurality of known items; and determining whether the identification code data read from the identifier included with the item matches the identification code data retrieved from the feature database.
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Specification