System and method having increased security using simple mail transfer protocol emails verified by spf and dkim processes

Abstract

A system and method to facilitate transactions between a customer and a vendor utilizing an advertising campaign reaching a plurality of potential customers is provided. The method includes receiving a request from the vendor for a bulk token for use in the advertising campaign, generating the bulk token, transmitting the bulk token to the vendor to embed into the advertising campaign associated with a mailto link, the bulk token being sent as part of the advertising campaign to at least one of the plurality of potential customer, receiving a reply SMTP email from a customer from the plurality of potential customers indicating a request for a transaction responsive to the advertising campaign by selecting the mailto link, decoding the bulk token to verify the transaction, performing an SPF and DKIM validation of the received SMTP email to validate the transaction, and processing the verified and validated transaction.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method implemented in an e-commerce system to facilitate transactions between a customer and a vendor, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a receiver, a request for a bulk token for use in an advertising campaign;   generating, by a processor, a bulk token, wherein the bulk token includes at least a type field and amount field, and does not include an email field;   transmitting, by a transmitter, the bulk token to a vendor server;   receiving, by a receiver, a reply email, wherein the reply email includes the bulk token;   decoding, by the processor, the bulk token;   performing, by the processor, an Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) validation; and   processing, by the processor, the transaction, on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are approved.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting, by the transmitter, a web checkout email message including an URL hyperlink on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are rejected.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting a confirmation email message including a mailto hyperlink on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are classified as ‘Confirm’.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the reply email is sent from a registered or non-registered customer based on an email address from which the reply email was sent. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising transmitting, by the transmitter, a web checkout email message including an URL hyperlink on a condition that the reply email was sent from a non-registered customer. 
     
     
         6 . An e-commerce system to facilitate transactions between a customer and a vendor, the e-commerce system comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive a request for a bulk token for use in an advertising campaign;   a processor configured to generate a bulk token, wherein the bulk token includes at least a type field and amount field, and does not include an email field;   a transmitter configured to transmit the bulk token to a vendor server;   the receiver configured to receive a reply email, wherein the reply email includes the bulk token;   the processor configured to decode the bulk token;   the processor configured to perform a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) validation; and   the processor configured to process the financial transaction, on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are approved.   
     
     
         7 . The e-commerce system of  claim 6 , wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a web checkout email message including an URL hyperlink on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are rejected. 
     
     
         8 . The e-commerce system of  claim 6 , wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a confirmation email message including a mailto hyperlink on a condition that the SPF and DKIM validations are classified as ‘Confirm’. 
     
     
         9 . The e-commerce system of  claim 6 , wherein the processor further configured to determine whether the reply email is sent from a registered or non-registered customer based on the email address from which the reply email was sent. 
     
     
         10 . The e-commerce system of  claim 9 , wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit a web checkout email message including an URL hyperlink on a condition that the reply email was sent from a non-registered customer. 
     
     
         11 . A method implemented in a vendor system for transactions between a customer and a vendor facilitated by an e-commerce system, the method comprising:
 transmitting, by a transmitter, a request for a bulk token for use in an advertising campaign;   receiving, by a receiver, the bulk token, wherein the bulk token includes at least a type field and amount field, and does not include an email field;   transmitting, by a transmitter, a plurality of advertisement emails to a list of recipients, wherein the list of recipients includes registered and non-registered individuals, the advertisement emails including a mailto hyperlink that includes the bulk token;   receiving, by the receiver, a notification message, wherein the notification message includes a confirmation that a transaction has been processed based on one of the transmitted plurality of advertisement emails; and   executing an order for a customer in response to the received notification message.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the notification message is received from the e-commerce system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the bulk token is received from the e-commerce system. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the customer is different from bulk token is received from a token generator associated with the vendor system. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein an email address of the customer is different from any emails in the list of recipients.