Method and system for auditing and verifying vehicle identification numbers (VINs) with crowdsourcing

• US 10,896,429 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2017
• Issued: 01/19/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Positioning Universal Holdings, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Talon Systems Software Incorporated
• Inventors: Wells, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Araque, Jr., Gerardo
• Application Number:
  US15/450,673
• Publication Number:
  US 20170262863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,415 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/993 Evaluation of the quality of the acquired pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/62 Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images

Abstract

A method and system for auditing and verifying vehicle identification numbers (VINs) with crowdsourcing. Digital photographs of vehicle VINs are collected and verified with independent crowdsourcing techniques including crowd voting techniques used in CAPTCHAs, etc. The crowdsourcing techniques are also used to detect fraud associated with VIN audits of vehicle lots.

Claims

1. A method for automatic vehicle identification number verification, comprising:

receiving one or more first messages from one or more thin client applications on one or more network devices with one or more processors via a cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) on a server application on a server network device with one or more processors via a cloud communications network,

the cloud SaaS providing an automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number (VIN) verification for a plurality of vehicles on one or more vehicle lots with a combination of;

(1) applying a CAPTCHA method comprising;

verifying one or more original digital photographs of a VIN of a vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs in the one or more first messages by requesting a plurality of inputs from a plurality of other server network devices each with one or more processors, the CAPTCHA method providing an independent, non-biased method to verify the VIN and to determine a quality of the one or more original digital photographs including the VIN;

(2) determining by a majority of responses from the CAPTCHA method what the VIN in the one or more original digital photographs actually is;

(3) applying a first check digit validation method comprising;

determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method is actually a valid VIN, the first check digit validation method determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method has actually been assigned to any vehicle by a vehicle manufacturer; and

(4) applying a second check digit validation method to determine whether the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method may be incorrectly verified by the CAPTCHA method due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method;

the one or more first messages including one or more original digital photographs captured with a camera component on the one or more network devices, the one or more original digital photographs including a current VIN for a vehicle and current Global Positioning System (GPS) location information for the vehicle captured on a GPS component on the one or more network devices for the vehicle, and

the cloud SaaS on the server application including a plurality of recorded VINs for a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of recorded GPS locations for the plurality of vehicles;

sending one or more second messages from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network to the plurality of other network devices each with one or more processors for independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method of the VIN for the vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs,

the independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method automatically soliciting verification contributions from a selected online crowdsourcing community including the plurality of other network devices;

receiving a plurality of third messages on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network from the plurality of other server network devices,

the plurality of third messages including electronic information indicating a plurality of crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method including a determination of the VIN of the vehicle after the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle were reviewed by the online crowdsourcing community;

determining on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the electronic information from the plurality of third messages what a majority of independent crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method have determined the VIN of the vehicle actually is;

creating with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device a crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle;

verifying with the on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the first check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle has actually been assigned to any vehicle by any vehicle manufacturer;

verifying with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the second check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle is valid, the second check digit method comprising;

calculating a first value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN;

selecting a digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

applying a multiplicative property of zero method to cancel out the selected digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

calculating a second value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN without the canceled selected digit,

comparing the calculated first value to the calculated second value to determine whether they are identical, and if not,

determining the created crowdsourced consensus VIN should be further examined as there is a mistake in the created crowdsourced consensus VIN due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method to determine if a fraud has occurred with the photographing the VIN of the vehicle;

comparing with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle to a recorded VIN for the vehicle and comparing the current GPS location of the vehicle to a recorded GPS location of the vehicle, to determine if any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one more fourth messages to the one or more network devices,

the one or more fourth messages including a VIN confirmation for the VIN of the vehicle and an indication of any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

preparing automatically with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device an electronic summary report for displaying on another network device with one or more processors,

the electronic summary report including;

(1) providing fraud prevention assistance for auditors in determining if their VIN audits are correct for the vehicle, (2) providing a certainty factor value for validating the VIN of the vehicle based on the crowdsourcing data, (3) providing a visual clarity factor value including how easily the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle can be read, understood and compared, (4) providing what type of network device was used to capture the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle, and (5) providing an indication of any fraud detected for the vehicle and what type of fraud was detected for the vehicle including an indication of any fraud that has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or with the location of the vehicle;

sending from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more fifth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more fifth messages including the prepared electronic summary report including VIN audit confirmations verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection; and

sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more sixth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more sixth messages including an electronic pass or fail VIN audit confirmation verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection requested by the one or more network devices.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the vehicle includes cars, trucks, snow machines, and motorcycles.

3. The method of claim 1 further including one or more non-vehicle entities with one or more serial numbers, including airplanes, boats and bicycles, for the one or more non-vehicle entities, wherein the one or more serial numbers are verified with the cloud SaaS using automatic crowdsourced consensus of one or more original digital photographs of the one or more serial numbers of the non-vehicle entities.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of third messages include Short Message Service (SMS) messages, instant messages, e-mail messages, social media messages, GPS messages, voice messages, search engine messages, television messages, Internet television messages or multi-media messages including audio or video messages.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of fourth messages include messages sent to a network device associated with one or more banks, vehicle dealers, finance companies, car companies, insurance companies, towing companies or repossession companies.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the electronic summary report further including a plurality of VIN numbers for a plurality parked vehicles for the one or more vehicle lots, the electronic summary report including if any fraud has been detected for any of the plurality of parked vehicles for the one or more vehicle lots.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the cloud SaaS further includes automatically and unilaterally provisioning cloud computing capabilities including server network device time and network storage as needed on other server network devices on the cloud communications network for automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number verification.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle and the current GPS location of the vehicle in a database associated with the server network device.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle and the current GPS location of the vehicle in one or more cloud storage objects; and

storing from the cloud SaaS on the server application the one or more cloud storage objects on one or more cloud server network devices each with one or more processors on the cloud communications network.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the server application includes a plurality of other cloud applications for plurality of other cloud services on the cloud communications network for automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number verification.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the plurality of other cloud services further include specific cloud services comprising a Cloud Computing Infrastructure (CCI) service and a Cloud Computing Platform (CCP) service specifically configured for providing automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number verification with a CAPTCHA method via the cloud SaaS on the server application.

12. The method of claim 1 further wherein the one or more network devices include a laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, personal digital/data assistant (PDA), wearable network device, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting from the cloud SaaS on the server application a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display component on the one or more network devices or on the server network device including the electronic summary report or one or more audit confirmations for automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number verification.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining with a thin client target application on a target network device with one or more processors, a physical location of the target network device with a location component on the target network device;

receiving one or more first target messages on the thin client target application on the target network device from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with one or more processor via the cloud communications network,

the one or more first target messages including a list of a plurality of vehicles that should be at the determined physical location of the target network device;

capturing with a target camera component on the target network device one or more original digital photographs of VINs of the plurality of vehicles at the determined physical location of the target network device;

sending from the thin client target application on the target network device one or more second target messages including the captured one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality of vehicles to the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the cloud communications network; and

receiving on the thin client target application on the target network device one or more third target messages including a plurality of pass or fail audit confirmations for one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality vehicles on the vehicle lot from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the cloud communications network,

the received plurality of pass or fail audit confirmations created with the plurality of crowdsourcing verification contributions including the determination of the VINs of the vehicle after the one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality of vehicles were reviewed by the online crowdsourcing community.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the audit confirmations includes a pass or fail indication for VINs of the plurality of vehicles at the determined physical location of the target network device.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the determined physical location of the target network device includes a determined GPS location of the target network device.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the target network device includes a laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, personal digital/data assistant (PDA), a wearable network device, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

18. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

preventing a first level of vehicle audit fraud with the determined physical location of the target network device by ensuring the target network device is physically present at the physical location including the vehicle lot; and

preventing a second level of vehicle audit fraud with the list of the plurality of vehicles that should be at the determined physical location of the target network device including the vehicle lot.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein a plurality of instructions causing one or more processors to be configured for executing the steps of:

receiving one or more first messages from one or more thin client applications on one or more network devices with one or more processors via a cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) on a server application on a server network device with one or more processors via a cloud communications network,

the cloud SaaS providing an automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number (VIN) verification for a plurality of vehicles on one or more vehicle lots with a combination of;

(1) applying a CAPTCHA method comprising;

verifying one or more original digital photographs of a VIN of a vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs in the one or more first messages by requesting a plurality of inputs from a plurality of other server network devices each with one or more processors, the CAPTCHA method providing an independent, non-biased method to verify the VIN and to determine a quality of the one or more original digital photographs including the VIN;

(2) determining by a majority of responses from the CAPTCHA method what the VIN in the one or more original digital photographs actually is;

(3) applying a first check digit validation method comprising;

determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method is actually a valid VIN, the first check digit validation method determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method has actually been assigned to any vehicle by a vehicle manufacturer; and

(4) applying a second check digit validation method to determine whether the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method may be incorrectly verified by the CAPTCHA method due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method;

the one or more first messages including one or more original digital photographs captured with a camera component on the one or more network devices, the one or more original digital photographs including a current VIN for a vehicle and current Global Positioning System (GPS) location information for the vehicle captured on a GPS component on the one or more network devices for the vehicle, and

the cloud SaaS on the server application including a plurality of recorded VINs for a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of recorded GPS locations for the plurality of vehicles;

sending one or more second messages from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network to the plurality of other network devices each with one or more processors for independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method of the VIN for the vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs,

the independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method automatically soliciting verification contributions from a selected online crowdsourcing community including the plurality of other network devices;

receiving a plurality of third messages on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network from the plurality of other server network devices,

the plurality of third messages including electronic information indicating a plurality of crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method including a determination of the VIN of the vehicle after the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle were reviewed by the online crowdsourcing community;

determining on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the electronic information from the plurality of third messages what a majority of independent crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method have determined the VIN of the vehicle actually is;

creating with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device a crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle;

verifying with the on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the first check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle has actually been assigned to any vehicle by any vehicle manufacturer;

verifying with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the second check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle is valid, the second check digit method comprising;

calculating a first value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN;

selecting a digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

applying a multiplicative property of zero method to cancel out the selected digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

calculating a second value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN without the canceled selected digit,

comparing the calculated first value to the calculated second value to determine whether they are identical, and if not,

determining the created crowdsourced consensus VIN should be further examined as there is a mistake in the created crowdsourced consensus VIN due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method to determine if a fraud has occurred with the photographing the VIN of the vehicle;

comparing with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle to a recorded VIN for the vehicle and comparing the current GPS location of the vehicle to a recorded GPS location of the vehicle, to determine if any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one more fourth messages to the one or more network devices,

the one or more fourth messages including a VIN confirmation for the VIN of the vehicle and an indication of any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

preparing automatically with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device an electronic summary report for displaying on another network device with one or more processors,

the electronic summary report including;

(1) providing fraud prevention assistance for auditors in determining if their VIN audits are correct for the vehicle, (2) providing a certainty factor value for validating the VIN of the vehicle based on the crowdsourcing data, (3) providing a visual clarity factor value including how easily the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle can be read, understood and compared, (4) providing what type of network device was used to capture the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle, and (5) providing an indication of any fraud detected for the vehicle and what type of fraud was detected for the vehicle including an indication of any fraud that has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or with the location of the vehicle;

sending from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more fifth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more fifth messages including the prepared electronic summary report including VIN audit confirmations verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection; and

sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more sixth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more sixth messages including an electronic pass or fail VIN audit confirmation verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection requested by the one or more network devices.

20. A system for automatic vehicle identification number verification, comprising in combination:

a server network device with one or more processors with a server application;

one or more network devices each with one or more processors and including a camera component;

one or more target network devices with one or more processors and including a thin client target application, a target camera component and a target location component;

one or more vehicles including a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN);

a cloud communications network;

for receiving one or more first messages from one or more thin client applications on one or more network devices with one or more processors via a cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) on a server application on a server network device with one or more processors via a cloud communications network,

the cloud SaaS providing an automatic crowdsourced consensus vehicle identification number (VIN) verification for a plurality of vehicles on one or more vehicle lots with a combination of;

(1) applying a CAPTCHA method comprising;

verifying one or more original digital photographs of a VIN of a vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs in the one or more first messages by requesting a plurality of inputs from a plurality of other server network devices each with one or more processors, the CAPTCHA method providing an independent, non-biased method to verify the VIN and to determine a quality of the one or more original digital photographs including the VIN;

(2) determining by a majority of responses from the CAPTCHA method what the VIN in the one or more original digital photographs actually is;

(3) applying a first check digit validation method comprising;

determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method is actually a valid VIN, the first check digit validation method determining if the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method has actually been assigned to any vehicle by a vehicle manufacturer; and

(4) applying a second check digit validation method to determine whether the VIN verified by the CAPTCHA method may be incorrectly verified by the CAPTCHA method due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method;

the one or more first messages including one or more original digital photographs captured with a camera component on the one or more network devices, the one or more original digital photographs including a current VIN for a vehicle and current Global Positioning System (GPS) location information for the vehicle captured on a GPS component on the one or more network devices for the vehicle, and

the cloud SaaS on the server application including a plurality of recorded VINs for a plurality of vehicles and a plurality of recorded GPS locations for the plurality of vehicles;

for ending one or more second messages from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network to the plurality of other network devices each with one or more processors for independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method of the VIN for the vehicle included in the one or more original digital photographs,

the independent crowdsourcing verification with the CAPTCHA method automatically soliciting verification contributions from a selected online crowdsourcing community including the plurality of other network devices;

for receiving a plurality of third messages on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network from the plurality of other server network devices,

the plurality of third messages including electronic information indicating a plurality of crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method including a determination of the VIN of the vehicle after the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle were reviewed by the online crowdsourcing community;

for determining on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the electronic information from the plurality of third messages what a majority of independent crowdsourcing verification contributions with the CAPTCHA method have determined the VIN of the vehicle actually is;

for creating with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device a crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle;

for verifying with the on the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the first check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle has actually been assigned to any vehicle by any vehicle manufacturer;

for verifying with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with the second check digit method that the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle is valid, the second check digit method comprising;

for calculating a first value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN;

for selecting a digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

for applying a multiplicative property of zero method to cancel out the selected digit from the created crowdsourced consensus VIN,

for calculating a second value for the created crowdsourced consensus VIN without the canceled selected digit,

for comparing the calculated first value to the calculated second value to determine whether they are identical, and if not,

for determining the created crowdsourced consensus VIN should be further examined as there is a mistake in the created crowdsourced consensus VIN due to submission of poor quality digital photographs to the CAPTCHA method to determine if a fraud has occurred with the photographing the VIN of the vehicle;

for comparing with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device the created crowdsourced consensus VIN for the vehicle to a recorded VIN for the vehicle and comparing the current GPS location of the vehicle to a recorded GPS location of the vehicle, to determine if any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

for sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one more fourth messages to the one or more network devices,

the one or more fourth messages including a VIN confirmation for the VIN of the vehicle and an indication of any fraud has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or the location of the vehicle;

for preparing automatically with the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device an electronic summary report for displaying on another network device with one or more processors,

the electronic summary report including;

(1) providing fraud prevention assistance for auditors in determining if their VIN audits are correct for the vehicle, (2) providing a certainty factor value for validating the VIN of the vehicle based on the crowdsourcing data, (3) providing a visual clarity factor value including how easily the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle can be read, understood and compared, (4) providing what type of network device was used to capture the one or more original digital photographs of the VIN of the vehicle, and (5) providing an indication of any fraud detected for the vehicle and what type of fraud was detected for the vehicle including an indication of any fraud that has occurred with the VIN of the vehicle or with the location of the vehicle;

for sending from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more fifth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more fifth messages including the prepared electronic summary report including VIN audit confirmations verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection;

for sending in real-time from cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the communications network one or more sixth messages to the one or more network devices, the one or more sixth messages including an electronic pass or fail VIN audit confirmation verified by automatic crowdsourced consensus VIN verification and fraud detection requested by the one or more network devices;

for determining with a thin client target application on a target network device with one or more processors, a physical location of the target network device with a location component on the target network device;

for receiving one or more first target messages on the thin client target application on the target network device from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device with one or more processor via the cloud communications network,

the one or more first target messages including a list of a plurality of vehicles that should be at the determined physical location of the target network device;

for capturing with a target camera component on the target network device one or more original digital photographs of VINs of the plurality of vehicles at the determined physical location of the target network device;

for sending from the thin client target application on the target network device one or more second target messages including the captured one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality of vehicles to the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the cloud communications network; and

for receiving on the thin client target application on the target network device one or more third target messages including a plurality of audit confirmations for one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality vehicles on the vehicle lot from the cloud SaaS on the server application on the server network device via the cloud communications network,

the received plurality of audit confirmations created with the plurality of crowdsourcing verification contributions including the determination of the VINs of the vehicle after the one or more original digital photographs of the VINs of the plurality of vehicles were reviewed by the online crowdsourcing community;

for preventing a first level of vehicle audit fraud with the determined physical location of the target network device by ensuring the target network device is physically present at the physical location including the vehicle lot; and

for preventing a second level of vehicle audit fraud with the list of the plurality of vehicles that should be at the determined physical location of the target network device including the vehicle lot.