System and method for enhanced fraud detection in automated electronic credit card processing

Abstract

A method and system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction having enhanced measures for detecting fraudulent transactions. A user at a remote terminal attempting to conduct an electronic credit card transaction is prompted to input the user's credit card information, address, and social security number. The information input by the user is retrieved and used for identification purposes. Initially, the input credit card information is submitted to an issue of the user's credit card to determine whether the input credit card information is valid. The social security number input by the user is next checked against a separate social security number database to determine if it corresponds to the user. A database having a stored list of social security numbers is accessed, wherein each of the stored social security numbers includes at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual identified by the respective social security number. The addresses stored in association with the input social security number are retrieved and compared with the input address to determine if the input address corresponds to any of the retrieved stored addresses. If the input credit card information has been confirmed by the issuer as being valid and the address input by the user matches any of the retrieved address stored in association with the input social security number, the electronic credit card transaction is authorized and allowed to transpire. The social security number database is stored and accessed separately from the issuer's credit card information database to provide an added measure of protection against a person fraudulently gaining access to one of the database, since access to the information in both databases is required to complete the financial transaction.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction, comprising the steps of: 
       generating a request for a user at a remote terminal to input the user's credit card information, address, and social security number;  
       receiving the information input by the user;  
       communicating the input information to a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card to determine whether the input information is valid;  
       accessing a social security number database having a list of social security numbers stored therein, wherein each of said stored social security numbers include at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual identified by the respective social security number;  
       retrieving the at least one stored address associated with the input social security number;  
       comparing the input address with the at least one retrieved stored address to corroborate the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored in the social security number database; and  
       authorizing the electronic credit card transaction when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the social security number database.  
     
     
       2. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the social security number database is stored separately from the credit card information stored by the issuer. 
     
     
       3. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the address input by the user is communicated to the issuer along with the input credit card information for validation by the issuer. 
     
     
       4. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
       collecting a phone number from which the remote terminal is communicating;  
       comparing the collected phone number with a stored list of blocked phone numbers which are not authorized to perform electronic credit card transactions; and  
       rejecting authorization if the collected phone number matches any of the blocked phone numbers on the stored list.  
     
     
       5. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
       delivering a negative response to the user indicating that the electronic credit card transaction is being refused when authorization is not granted; and  
       notifying the user of the reason for which the credit card transaction is refused.  
     
     
       6. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
       determining whether a predetermined expenditure limit has been exceeded within a given time period by the credit card identified by the input credit card information; and  
       denying authorization if the predetermined expenditure limit has been exceeded.  
     
     
       7. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the address input by the user includes the a street address and zip code of the user. 
     
     
       8. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 7 , wherein said address comparing step compares the input street address and zip code with the retrieved stored addresses in the social security database to determine if the input street address and zip code match any of the street address and zip codes in the retrieved stored addresses. 
     
     
       9. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 8 , further comprising the step of determining whether the input street address is a P.O. Box if the input street address does not initially match a retrieved stored address. 
     
     
       10. The method of authorizing electronic credit card transactions as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the entire authorizing procedure is automated without the need for human intervention. 
     
     
       11. The method of authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the social security number database is independent from the user's credit card information. 
     
     
       12. An automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction, comprising: 
       inquiry means for requesting a user at a remote terminal to input the user's credit card information, address, and social security number;  
       receiving means for collecting the information input by the user;  
       comparing means for comparing the input information with information stored in a credit card information database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card to determine whether the input information is valid;  
       retrieval means for accessing a social security number database of stored social security numbers having at least one address stored therewith corresponding to an address of an individual identified by the respective social security number and retrieving the at least one stored address associated with the social security number input by the user;  
       processing means for comparing the input address with the at least one retrieved stored address from the social security number database and corroborating the information stored in the credit card information database; and  
       authorizing means for authorizing the electronic credit card transaction when said input information is determined to correspond to the retrieved information stored in both the credit card information database and the social security number database.  
     
     
       13. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the social security number database is stored separately from the credit card information stored by the issuer. 
     
     
       14. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the address of the user is communicated to the issuer along with the credit card information for validation by the issuer. 
     
     
       15. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , further comprising: 
       number identification means for collecting a phone number from which the remote terminal is communicating; and  
       comparison means for comparing the collecting phone number with a stored list of blocked phone numbers which are not authorized to perform electronic credit card transactions and rejecting authorization if the collected phone number matches any of the blocked phone numbers on the stored list.  
     
     
       16. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , further comprising notification mean for generating a negative response to the user indicating that the electronic credit card transaction is being refused when authorization is not granted and notifying the user of the reason for which the credit card transaction is refused. 
     
     
       17. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , further comprising delimiting means for determining whether a predetermined expenditure limit has been exceeded within a given time period by the credit card identified by the input credit card information and denying authorization if the predetermined expenditure limit has been exceeded. 
     
     
       18. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the address input by the user includes the a street address and zip code of the user. 
     
     
       19. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in claim  16   18 , wherein said processing means further compares the input street address and zip code with the retrieved stored addresses in the social security database to determine if the input street address and zip code match any of the street addresses and zip codes in the retrieved stored addresses. 
     
     
       20. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 19 , wherein said processing means determines whether the input street address is a P.O. Box if the input street address does not initially match a retrieved stored address. 
     
     
       21. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the entire system is automated without the need for human intervention. 
     
     
       22. The automated system for authorizing an electronic credit card transaction as defined in  claim 12 , wherein the social security number database is independent from the user's credit card information. 
     
     
       23. A method of authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising the steps of: 
       
         receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, identifying information about the user, and information relating to a social security number of the user;  
       
       
         validating the input information with information stored in a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card;  
       
       
         accessing a social security number databases containing information about persons including a correspondence between stored social security number information and stored identifying information about persons, wherein each item of stored social security number information includes corresponding stored identifying information;  
       
       
         retrieving the corresponding stored identifying information associated with the input social security number information;  
       
       
         comparing the input identifying information with the stored identifying information corresponding to the input social security number information to corroborate the validity of the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored in the social security number database; and  
       
       
         authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the social security database.  
       
     
     
       24. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 23 , wherein the identifying information is an address.  
     
     
       25. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 24 , wherein the address input by the user is communicated to the issuer along with the input credit card information for validation by the issuer.  
     
     
       26. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 23 , wherein the social security number database is stored separately from the credit card information stored by the issuer.  
     
     
       27. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 23 , wherein the social security number database is independent from the user's credit card information.  
     
     
       28. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 23 , wherein said input social security number information includes at least a portion of the user's social security number.  
     
     
       29. An automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions, comprising: 
       
         receiving means for receiving information input by a user wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, identifying information about the user, and information relating to a social security number of the user;  
       
       
         comparing means for comparing the input information with information stored in a credit card information database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card to determine whether the input information is valid;  
       
       
         retrieval means for accessing a social security number database containing information about persons including a correspondence between stored social security number information and stored identifying information about persons and retrieving the stored identifying information corresponding to the social security number information input by the user;  
       
       
         processing means for comparing the input identifying information with the stored identifying information from the social security number database to corroborate the validity of the information stored in the credit card information database; and  
       
       
         authorizing means for authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to the retrieved information stored in both the credit card information database and the social security number database.  
       
     
     
       30. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for electronic transactions as defined in  claim 29 , wherein the identifying information includes an address.  
     
     
       31. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for electronic transactions as defined in  claim 30 , wherein the address of the user is communicated to the issuer along with the credit card information for validation by the issuer.  
     
     
       32. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for electronic transactions as defined in  claim 29 , wherein said input social security number information includes at least a portion of the user's social security number.  
     
     
       33. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 29 , wherein the social security number database is stored separately from the credit card information stored by the issuer.  
     
     
       34. The automated system for authorizing a credit card for electronic transactions as defined in  claim 29 , wherein the social security number database is independent from the user's credit card information.  
     
     
       35. A computer- readable medium storing a program for authorizing a credit card for transactions, said program comprising the steps of:    
       
         receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, identifying information about the user, and information relating to a social security number of the user;  
       
       
         validating the input information with information stored in a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card;  
       
       
         accessing a social security number database containing information about persons including a correspondence between stored social security number information and stored identifying information, wherein each item of stored social security number information includes corresponding stored identifying information;  
       
       
         retrieving the corresponding stored identifying information associated with the input social security number information;  
       
       
         comparing the input identifying information with the stored identifying information corresponding to the input social security number information to corroborate the validity of the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored in the social security number database; and  
       
       
         authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the social security number database.  
       
     
     
       36. The computer- readable medium of    claim 35   , wherein the identifying information is an address.    
     
     
       37. The computer- readable medium of    claim 36   , wherein said program further comprises communicating the address input by the user to the issuer along with the input credit card information for validation by the issuer.    
     
     
       38. The computer- readable medium of    claim 35   , wherein said input social security number information utilized by said program includes at least a portion of the user's social security number.    
     
     
       39. A method of authorizing a credit card for transactions comprising the steps of: 
       
         receiving information input by a user, wherein said input information includes credit card information for a credit card being authorized, information associated with the user, and information uniquely identifying the user;  
       
       
         validating the input information with information stored in a credit card database provided by an issuer of the user's credit card;  
       
       
         accessing an independent database containing information about individuals including a correspondence between stored information uniquely identifying individuals and stored information associated with individuals wherein a correspondence exists in said independent database for each individual between respective stored uniquely identifying information and respective stored information associated with each individual;  
       
       
         retrieving the stored information associated with an individual which corresponds to the uniquely identifying information input by the user;  
       
       
         comparing the input information associated with the user with the stored information associated with an individual corresponding to the input uniquely identifying information to corroborate the validity of the information stored in the credit card database with the information stored in the independent database; and  
       
       
         authorizing the credit card for transactions when said input information is determined to correspond to information stored in both the credit card database and the independent database.  
       
     
     
       40. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 39 , wherein the information associated with the user is an address.  
     
     
       41. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 40 , wherein the address input by the user is communicated to the issuer along with the input credit card information for validation by the issuer.  
     
     
       42. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 39 , wherein the independent database is stored separately from the credit card information stored by the credit card issuer.  
     
     
       43. The method of authorizing a credit card for transactions as defined in  claim 39 , wherein said uniquely identifying information includes at least a portion of the user's social security number.