Telephonic communications – Call or terminal access alarm or control – Fraud or improper use mitigating or indication
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-20
2001-10-23
Matar, Ahmad (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Call or terminal access alarm or control
Fraud or improper use mitigating or indication
C379S114140, C379S114150, C379S114030, C379S145000, C379S188000, C379S196000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06307926
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable
FEDERALLY SPONORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and more particularly to an improved method and system for preventing fraudulent calls prior to call connection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone fraud is a major area of abuse in the United States and throughout the world. Such fraud frequently involves the unauthorized or bogus use of telephone billing numbers, which have been assigned to customers and are associated with customer billing accounts. These numbers are typically imprinted or encoded on wallet sized cards, which are provided to customers to enable the customers to easily charge calls to their respective billing accounts. Consequently, these numbers are commonly referred to as telephone calling card numbers. As those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, however, the terms “calling card number,” “billing number” and “bill number” are not restricted to card-based numbers but may refer more generally to any number used to bill or track telecommunications services. Network Configuration and Signaling
A typical telecommunications network is depicted and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,906, which issued on Feb. 11, 1997 in the name of Phelps, for a toll fraud detection system (“the Phelps patent.”) The Phelps patent, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Generally, a telecommunications network includes telephone units interconnected to each other via central offices owned by local exchange carriers (LECs). These central offices are in turn interconnected to each other via network equipment owned by long distance service providers, or interexchange carriers (IXCs). The LEC provides local switches for receiving and forwarding calls placed to and from the interconnected telephone units as well as a tandem switch for passing calls between the local switches and the IXC. The IXC in turn includes switches designed to receive and forward calls to and from the LECs and from point to point throughout the IXC's long distance network.
In order to establish a communication path for connecting a given call, an IXC network typically provides a signaling system. The signaling system allows network elements such as switches to exchange information regarding the routing of telecommunications traffic over network connections. For example, the signaling system might transfer a dialed number from switch to switch so that each switch along the call path can process the dialed number and select connections for the call. A well known example of a signaling system is Signaling System #7 (SS7).
In most cases, the IXC network includes a service control point (SCP), which serves to process signaling messages transmitted throughout the network. The SCP is typically coupled to the IXC switches over signaling links and through signaling transfer points (STPs), which allow the SCP to exchange signaling messages with the switches.
When a switch or other network system (such as an operator assistance center, for instance) requires routing additional information to facilitate completion of a particular call, it will usually transmit a signaling message to an SCP, requesting the additional information. This message is commonly known as a transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) message and identifies information specific to the call, such as caller number (known as ANI), dialed number and calling card number.
The SCP serves primarily to validate customer information and to provide routing information to the querying system, based on information contained in the TCAP message. An example of this mechanism is disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,463, entitled “System for Service Control Point Routing” (the '463 patent), which issued on Dec. 2, 1997. The '463 patent is assigned to the owner of the present invention and is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
As described in the '463 patent, when the SCP receives a TCAP, it checks the format of the message and then performs customer validation. To validate customer information, the SCP refers to one or more validation databases that contain a list of customer information. As known by those skilled in the art, this information may provide a negative list of calling card numbers blocked or “stunned” from use. Alternatively, other configurations are also possible. Based on this validation process, the SCP returns a response TCAP message to the querying system, indicating either that the call may proceed or that the call should be treated as blocked.
If the SCP validates the customer information associated with the proposed call, the SCP then retrieves a corresponding customer record from the database. The customer record is typically identified by information in the TCAP message and includes a routing tree identification (ID). The SCP uses this routing tree ID to access a customer's particular routing plan and particularly to identify a connection to which the switch should route the call for the particular customer.
More specifically, as further described by the '463 patent, the SCP may include a routing tree structure that defines routing information for a given call. The routing tree consists of a series of “decision nodes,” each of which is defined by a database table that contains particular criteria and yields a predetermined result. The routing tree produces a determination of where to route the call, in the form of a trunk and switch combination. The SCP in turn places these connection identifiers in a response TCAP message for return transmission to the querying system. Finally, upon receipt of this response TCAP message, the switch or other requesting element routes the call as instructed.
The Need for Fraud Prevention
Fraudulent use of calling card numbers has evolved over the years and has unfortunately responded to telephone company detection efforts. As interexchange carriers have developed new systems to detect and prevent fraud, criminals have developed new tactics for defeating those very detection schemes.
In an early form, for instance, calling card fraud was detected by customers or long distance service providers who recognized the existence of unauthorized charges on customer billing statements. In response, interexchange carriers developed systems for monitoring records of completed calls, in search of aberrations or telltale signs of fraud. In turn, however, criminals developed methods of maximizing their fraudulent use of card numbers before the calls are completed. For example, organized groups of criminals have arranged to simultaneously or serially make multiple calls from phones across the country using a single stolen calling card number. As another example, criminals have used stolen card numbers to make expensive overseas calls that last many hours at a time and that evade detection until completed.
The process of preventing calling card fraud has typically involved analyzing a history of abuse in order to identify trends, and thereby formulating rules for responding to similar events in the future. Frequently, such systems detect fraud primarily based on generic calling patterns for a given calling card. For instance, the IXC may employ a fraud management system that regularly receives call records from the SCP and automatically applies thresholds developed from historical fraud patterns associated with previously abused cards and account history. If the call satisfies a sufficient threshold, the fraud management system may instruct the SCP to block subsequent calls that use the card number. Typically, the SCP would then include the blocked calling card number in a database for reference in the validation process described above.
In other instances, history may reveal a need to prevent the connection of calls from certain areas to certain destinations. For example, reports may ident
Abbasi Zahid Ali
Allen Isaac Shane
Barton Richard Hillix
Abbasi Zahid A.
Allen Isaac S.
Barton Richard H.
Bui Bing
Matar Ahmad
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