System and method for preventing fraud in the secondary market for gift cards

• US 9,251,515 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2014
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GiftCodes.com, LLC
• Original Assignee: GiftCodes.com, LLC
• Inventors: Wolfe, Jason
• Primary Examiner(s): Haupt, Kristy A
• Application Number:
  US14/258,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20140229383A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/06 Private payment circuits, e.g. involving electronic currency used among participants of a common payment scheme
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0655 e-cash managed centrally
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/354 Card activation or deactivation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for preventing and detecting fraud in the secondary gift card market are disclosed herein. An example system can identify an event associated with a prepaid gift account associated with a secondary market for reselling prepaid gift accounts, the prepaid gift account having a verified initial balance established prior to the event. Based on the event, the system can perform a reverification of the verified initial balance of the prepaid gift account to yield an updated balance. If the verification indicates that the updated balance is different from the verified initial balance, the system can perform a corrective action. The event can be receiving the prepaid gift account, listing the prepaid gift account for sale, transferring the prepaid gift account between parties, converting the prepaid gift account to a different form, an elevated fraud risk, a user request, a regular balance checking interval, or random selection.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying an event associated with a prepaid gift account, the event being associated with a secondary market for reselling prepaid gift accounts, wherein the prepaid gift account has a verified initial balance that was established prior to the event;

based on the event, performing, via a processor, a reverification of the verified initial balance of the prepaid gift account to yield an updated balance; and

if the verification indicates that the updated balance is different from the verified initial balance, performing a type of a corrective action based on a difference between the updated balance and the verified initial balance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises at least one of receiving the prepaid gift account, listing the prepaid gift account for sale on the secondary market, transferring the prepaid gift account from one party to another, converting the prepaid gift account from one account type to another, identification of an elevated fraud risk for the prepaid gift account, a user request, a regular balance checking interval, or selection via a random selection algorithm.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the corrective action comprises withdrawing an amount of money from a previously registered payment account associated with the prepaid gift account.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the amount of money comprises at least one of a penalty charge, an estimated amount of lost profit from reselling the prepaid gift account on the secondary market, and the verified initial balance.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the amount of money comprises at least one of a penalty charge, an estimated amount of lost profit from reselling the prepaid gift account on the secondary market, and the verified initial balance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the corrective action comprises removing the prepaid gift account from the secondary market.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a type of the corrective action is based on a difference between the updated balance and the verified initial balance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a type of the corrective action is based on a user preference.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the prepaid gift account comprises at least one of a physical gift card, an electronic gift card, a gift code, a gift certificate, or gift credit.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the prepaid gift account is associated with the secondary market by being listed for sale on the secondary market.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the prepaid gift account is associated with the secondary market via a request to list the prepaid gift account for sale on the secondary market.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the prepaid gift account is associated with the secondary market by being listed for sale on the secondary market.

13. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

identifying an event associated with a prepaid gift account, the event being associated with a secondary market for reselling prepaid gift accounts, wherein the prepaid gift account has a verified initial balance that was established prior to the event;

based on the event, performing a reverification of the verified initial balance of the prepaid gift account to yield an updated balance; and

if the verification indicates that the updated balance is different from the verified initial balance, performing a type of a corrective action based on a difference between the updated balance and the verified initial balance.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the event comprises at least one of receiving the prepaid gift account, listing the prepaid gift account for sale on the secondary market, transferring the prepaid gift account from one party to another, converting the prepaid gift account from one account type to another, identification of an elevated fraud risk for the prepaid gift account, a user request, a regular balance checking interval, or selection via a random selection algorithm.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action comprises withdrawing an amount of money from a previously registered payment account associated with the prepaid gift account.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action comprises removing the prepaid gift account from the secondary market.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein a type of the corrective action is based on a difference between the updated balance and the verified initial balance.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein a type of the corrective action is based on a user preference.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the prepaid gift account comprises at least one of a physical gift card, an electronic gift card, a gift code, a gift certificate, or gift credit.

20. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

identifying an event associated with a prepaid gift account associated, the event being with a secondary market for reselling prepaid gift accounts, wherein the prepaid gift account has a verified initial balance that was established prior to the event;

based on the event, performing a reverification of the verified initial balance of the prepaid gift account to yield an updated balance; and

if the verification indicates that the updated balance is different from the verified initial balance, performing a type of a corrective action based on a difference between the updated balance and the verified initial balance.