Trustworthiness confirmation system

Abstract

The present invention comprises a plurality of flagged telephone number lists 2 that are compiled for respective services, register telephone numbers of service users that have been associated with flag information that is based on criteria from service providers that provide the services, and are grouped by the industry of the corresponding service, service management means 1 that are provided for respective services, and a trustworthiness calculation means 3 that references the flagged telephone number lists 2, calculates the trustworthiness of a specific telephone number on the basis of the registration situation of the specific telephone number on the referenced flagged telephone number lists 2, and outputs the calculation results. Upon receiving a calculation request that has been transmitted with the specific telephone number, the trustworthiness calculation means 3 calculates the trustworthiness by referencing the information on the flagged telephone number lists 2 that are in the same group as the flagged telephone number list that corresponds to a specific service management means 1 that is the source of the transmission.

Description

Credit verification system

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for verifying the trustworthiness of a service user.

[0002] It has been considered to use telephone numbers corresponding to individuals to authenticate service users. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a system in which, every time a service authentication request signal is received from a user, an arbitrary authentication telephone number is randomly displayed on a user terminal, and when a call (access) is made from the user's telephone number to the authentication telephone number, a telephone number match determination is made, and the service provider determines whether or not restrictions on service provision are necessary.

[0003] In addition, for users who have engaged in problematic behavior in the past, their phone numbers may be registered as suspicious phone numbers on a list of suspicious phone numbers, similar to a blacklist, and users of phone numbers registered on the list of suspicious phone numbers may be restricted from using services, regardless of other conditions.

[0004] JP 2013-142916 A

[0005] If authentication is performed based on the black phone number list described above, it is possible to prevent trouble with users before it occurs. Most users whose phone numbers are registered on the black phone number list are users who have previously had trouble with the service provider that manages the list. Such black people are likely to cause similar trouble with service providers that offer similar services. However, because the phone numbers of black people are registered on the black phone number list after they have caused trouble, the black phone number list may not be valid when using a service provider's service for the first time. However, authentication using such a black phone number list has the problem that each service provider cannot know the phone numbers of black people before using the service.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a creditworthiness confirmation system that enables a service provider to accurately confirm the creditworthiness of a user.

[0007] The first invention is a creditworthiness confirmation system having a plurality of suspicious telephone number lists, each created for a different service, in which telephone numbers of service users are registered with associated suspicious information according to the standards of the service provider that provides the service; a service management means provided for each of the services; and a creditworthiness calculation means that refers to the suspicious telephone number lists, calculates the creditworthiness of a specific telephone number based on the registration status of the specific telephone number in the referenced suspicious telephone number list, and outputs the calculation result, wherein the specific telephone number is a telephone number sent from a specific service management means to the creditworthiness calculation means along with a creditworthiness calculation request, and the suspicious telephone number lists are grouped based on the industry of the corresponding service, and when the creditworthiness calculation means receives the calculation request, it calculates the creditworthiness by referring to information on the suspicious telephone number lists included in the same group as the suspicious telephone number list corresponding to the specific service management means that is the sender of the calculation request, and sends the calculation result to the service management means that is the sender of the calculation request.

[0008] In a second aspect of the present invention, the service management means has a function of determining whether or not it is necessary to restrict the provision of the service corresponding to the service management means, based on the calculation result received from the credit rating calculation means.

[0009] The third invention is provided with a function of notifying the service user of the specified telephone number of an authentication telephone number when the service management means determines that the service can be provided, and an authentication means for authenticating the service user when a call is made to the authentication telephone number from the specified telephone number of the service user.

[0010] The fourth invention includes a reference telephone number list in which suspicious telephone numbers extracted based on criteria other than the criteria of the service provider are registered, and the credibility calculation means calculates the credibility of the specific telephone number by referring to the reference telephone number list.

[0011] The fifth invention includes a notification means for, when a telephone number associated with the above-mentioned caution information is deleted from one of the plurality of caution telephone number lists, notifying a service management means that manages services corresponding to the caution telephone number lists other than the above-mentioned caution telephone number list that the telephone number has been deleted.

[0012] According to the present invention, the trustworthiness of a telephone number can be calculated based on information from multiple black phone number lists. Because a large amount of black information can be referenced, highly reliable calculation results can be obtained. The trustworthiness of the user can also be confirmed based on the trustworthiness of the telephone number, making it possible to determine whether the user is a black person or not. In addition, the service management means can confirm the trustworthiness of a service user based on the user's telephone number.

[0013] According to the second aspect of the present invention, the service management means can determine whether or not it is necessary to restrict the provision of services based on the calculation result of the credit rating calculation means. It is also possible to prevent trouble in advance by restricting the provision of services to users with low credit ratings.

[0014] According to the third aspect of the present invention, after making a judgment based on the calculation result of the trustworthiness, further authentication is performed using the authentication phone number, thereby making it possible to confirm that the user is using the phone number. Since the correspondence between the phone number and the user is certain, the trustworthiness of the user can be judged more accurately based on the trustworthiness of the phone number.

[0015] According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the trustworthiness of a telephone number can be calculated by referring to a reference telephone number list extracted based on criteria other than those of the service provider. For example, regardless of the type of service, telephone numbers that cannot be the user's telephone number can be registered in a reference telephone number list, and by referring to this list preferentially, it may be possible to output the calculation result before referring to other lists of suspicious telephone numbers.

[0016] According to the fifth invention, when the problematic behavior of a service user of a telephone number associated with watch information is corrected in relation to a service provider and the telephone number is no longer a watch telephone number, this fact can be notified to other service management means. The service management means (service provider) that is notified that a specific telephone number has been removed from another watch telephone number list can review the contents of the watch telephone number list that it manages based on the information.

[0017] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a creditworthiness confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the embodiment. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the details of the steps for calculating the creditworthiness of a specific telephone number according to the embodiment. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of an embodiment for performing incoming call authentication by telephone.

[0018] [Configuration] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The system shown in Fig. 1 is a system in which a service provider checks the credibility of the telephone number of a user who wishes to use the service. This system includes a user terminal A used by the service user, multiple service management devices B (B1, B2, ..., Bn) provided for each service of the service provider, and a center server C that calculates the credibility of a specific telephone number and manages the system.

[0019] Each service management device B is provided with a processing unit 1 serving as service management means and a black phone number list 2, both of which are capable of communicating with the center server C. In FIG. 1, a specific service management device among the multiple service management devices is shown as processing unit 1 serving as the specific service management means of B1, and other service management means are shown as processing unit 1'. A distinction is also made between the black phone number list 2 connected to the processing unit 1 and other black phone number lists 2'. However, in the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish the specific processing unit and black phone number list from other processing units and black phone number lists, they will be referred to as the service management device B, processing unit 1, and black phone number list 2.

[0020] Each black phone number list 2 is created by a service provider according to its own standards, and contains the telephone numbers of users associated with black information, i.e., the telephone numbers of black users. Black information is the service provider's criteria for determining whether a user is suitable to use the service, such as a person who has not paid for a product purchase in the past or has registered false personal information. These standards are determined by the service provider, and each black phone number list 2 is created independently by the service provider for each service. However, the standards tend to be similar depending on the type of service.

[0021] Furthermore, a user's telephone number corresponds one-to-one with an individual user, and in this case, telephone numbers are used not only in Japan but all over the world, including landlines and mobile phones. Since the processing unit 1 and black phone number list 2 correspond to one service, if the same business operator provides multiple services, a service management device B must be provided for each individual service. Each black phone number list 2 can be updated and registered individually via the corresponding processing unit 1.

[0022] Meanwhile, the center server C includes a calculation unit 3, which is a credit calculation means for calculating the creditworthiness of specific telephone numbers, one or more reference telephone number lists 4 connected to the calculation unit 3, and an incoming call authentication unit 5. Unlike the suspicious telephone number list 2, which is created based on the standards of the service provider, the reference telephone number list 4 is a list that registers telephone numbers that require caution regardless of the type of service, telephone numbers that should be excluded as users, etc. For example, if users of each service are to be authenticated using only their mobile phone number, telephone numbers other than mobile phones will not be recognized as user numbers. For this reason, the reference telephone number list 4 includes multiple lists that register numbers that cannot be used as mobile phones, landline numbers not issued to general users, telephone numbers used by corporations rather than individuals, and telephone numbers that have been misused for crimes in cooperation with public institutions.

[0023] Furthermore, the user terminal A is a device that can access the service management device B via a browser or app, and can also access the incoming call authentication unit 5 of the center server C using a telephone function, such as a smartphone. However, it is also possible to use a dedicated terminal or personal computer of the service provider that can access the service management device B, and a mobile phone or a landline telephone separately. Note that if the incoming call authentication process described later is not executed, the user terminal A does not need to have a telephone function.

[0024] The processing unit 1 is connected to the user terminal A via a user registration page for accepting a first-time application from the user, a page for authenticating the user such as a login page for the second or subsequent times, and a page for executing the service, and has a function of sending a request for calculating the credit rating to the calculation unit 3 of the center server C. Furthermore, the processing unit 1 determines whether or not it is necessary to restrict the provision of the service to the user based on the calculation result of the credit rating sent from the center server C.

[0025] The calculation unit 3 has a function of calculating the creditworthiness of a specific telephone number in response to a creditworthiness calculation request from a specific processing unit 1, and transmitting the calculation result (creditworthiness) to the processing unit 1. The calculation unit 3 of the center server C is able to access each black phone number list 2 via a management tool (interface) (not shown) in which the black phone number list 2 is registered. The incoming call authentication unit 5 is an authentication means having a function of authenticating a user by telephone number, which will be explained later.

[0026] [Operations and Effects] The operation of this system will be explained below with reference to the flowcharts in Figures 2 and 3. Here, the case of checking the telephone number of a user of a service corresponding to a specific service management device B1 will be explained using an example of the first time a user applies for use of the service.

[0027] 2, in step S1, the user inputs personal attribute information, including the user's mobile phone number x (e.g., 090-xxxx-xxxx), into a service application page corresponding to the service management device B1. This application page is the page of the service provider that provides the service, and is provided by the processing unit 1. In step S2, the processing unit 1 identifies the user's phone number x from the information input from the user terminal A, and requests the calculation unit 3 of the center server C to calculate the credibility of this phone number x (step S3).

[0028] The calculation unit 3 of the center server C, which has received the request to calculate the credibility, refers to the telephone number list in step S4 and calculates the credibility of the telephone number x based on that in step S5. The telephone number lists referred to in step S4 are all of the black phone number list 2 registered in the specific service management device B1, the black phone number list 2' registered in the other service management devices B2, ..., Bn, and the reference telephone number list 4 registered in the center server C. Specifically, it is checked whether the specific telephone number x is registered in all telephone number lists.

[0029] In step S5, the trustworthiness of telephone number x is calculated based on the registration status in the telephone number list. For example, if telephone number x is not registered in any telephone number list, the trustworthiness of telephone number x will be calculated as a high value, and if it is registered in many black phone number lists 2, the trustworthiness will be calculated as a low value. In this way, a trustworthiness calculation formula for calculating the trustworthiness of a specific telephone number x according to the registration status of the telephone number x in the telephone number list is set in the calculation unit 3 of the center server C, and the trustworthiness is calculated using this trustworthiness calculation formula. The trustworthiness calculation formula includes parameters that change depending on the industry type of the service, the number of telephone number lists to be referenced, etc. After calculating the trustworthiness, in step S6, the calculation unit 3 transmits the calculated trustworthiness to the processing unit 1, which is the sender of the calculation request.

[0030] The processing unit 1, which has received the calculation result, judges the creditworthiness received in step S7 according to its own company's standards. In steps S8 and S9, the processing unit 1 causes the user terminal A to display a screen according to the judgment result. The calculation result of the creditworthiness is judged, for example, by comparing the creditworthiness value with a reference value. If the creditworthiness is below the reference value, an NG result concluding that the provision of the service should be restricted is displayed (step S8), and if the creditworthiness is equal to or greater than the reference value, an OK result indicating that the next step toward providing the service should be proceeded to is displayed (step S9).

[0031] As described above, this system can confirm a user's credibility based on the user's telephone number. Furthermore, since the credibility of a specific telephone number x is calculated by referencing information from multiple black phone number lists 2, a more reliable credibility calculation result can be obtained than when only the information from the black phone number list 2 of the specific service management device B1 from which the service is requested is referenced. The results of the credibility calculation can limit the provision of services to users with low credibility, thereby preventing problems in advance. Furthermore, since other companies' black phone number lists 2' can also be used to calculate the credibility, individual service providers do not need to collect information on the telephone numbers of users who have never used their own services, thereby reducing the burden on each service provider.

[0032] [Example of Referencing Telephone Number Lists] In step S4 above, all telephone number lists are referred to before calculating the credibility, but the order in which the telephone number lists are referred to may be determined by weighting each telephone number list. An example of this is shown in FIG.

[0033] 3 shows the processing of the calculation unit 3 that has received a request to calculate the trustworthiness of a specific telephone number x, and shows the process from step S4 onwards in Fig. 2. Having received the request to calculate the trustworthiness in step S4, the calculation unit 3 refers to the black phone number list 2 of the specific service management device B1 in step S101 and determines whether number x is included in this black phone number list 2. If telephone number x is included in the black phone number list 2, the process proceeds to step S109, where it is determined to be NG (low trustworthiness), and the process proceeds to step S110 (corresponding to step S6 in Fig. 2) and this determination result is transmitted to the processing unit 1.

[0034] The suspicious telephone number list 2 of the service management device B1 is a list created by the service provider corresponding to the service management device B1, and contains the numbers of users who are not suitable as users of the company's services. Therefore, since the service will not be provided to users of telephone numbers included in the suspicious telephone number list 2, the service will be judged as NG, and for example, the lowest credibility will be assigned, and other telephone number lists will not be referenced.

[0035] On the other hand, if telephone number x is not included in list 2 in step S102, the process proceeds to step S103, where reference telephone number list 4 in center server C is referenced, and a determination is made in step S104 as to whether or not telephone number x is included in this reference telephone number list. Since reference telephone number list 4 is also a list of impossible telephone numbers, if telephone number x is included in reference telephone number list 4, the process proceeds to step S109, and if not, the process proceeds to step S105, where other suspicious telephone number list 2' is referenced.

[0036] If it is determined in step S106 that the telephone number x is not included in any of the other black phone number lists 2', then in step S107 it is judged as OK (high credibility) and the result of the credibility calculation is sent to the processing unit 1 (step S110). If it is determined in step S106 that the telephone number x is included in the other black phone number lists 2', then the process proceeds to step S108, where the credibility is calculated in the same manner as in step S5 of Figure 2, and the credibility that is the calculation result in step S110 is sent to the processing unit 1 (step S110).

[0037] The processing from step S6 onwards is as shown in Fig. 2. In this way, by prioritizing the telephone number lists and making a decision each time a telephone number list is referenced, the number of telephone number lists to be referenced can be reduced, and the calculations can be simplified.

[0038] In addition, all of the black phone number lists 2 may be grouped based on the type of business of the corresponding service, and the black phone number list 2' included in the group corresponding to the specific service accessed by the user may be referenced preferentially. Note that the processing unit 1 corresponding to the specific service is the sender of the request to calculate the credibility.

[0039] The reason why the blacklist 2 is divided into groups based on business type is that the content and level of blacklist information will be similar depending on the type of service, and blacklist persons are likely to commit similar fraudulent acts with respect to the same type of service. In addition, the level of blacklist information can be weighted depending on whether it is in the same group as a specific service, and this can be reflected in the parameters of the credibility calculation formula that calculates the credibility.

[0040] Furthermore, in the step of referencing multiple black phone number lists 2, it is possible to infer the preferences of a particular user from the type of service corresponding to the black phone number list 2 containing the phone number x of that user, or to infer behavioral patterns from the date and frequency of credit score calculation requests. For example, if phone number x is registered on the black phone number lists 2 of multiple securities companies and credit card companies, it is possible to infer that the corresponding user is interested in financial services, and if the calculation requests are concentrated during specific time periods such as weekends, it is possible to infer the user's lifestyle, such as the time of day the user is active. It is also possible to obtain user location (area) information from the country code and area code assigned to phone number x itself.

[0041] [Incoming call authentication of telephone number] The above describes an example in which the need for restricting service provision is determined based solely on the result of the trust calculation, but the result of the trust calculation may also be combined with incoming call authentication via telephone. Figure 4 shows a flow in which incoming call authentication processing has been added to the processing flow shown in Figure 2. This incoming call authentication is performed by the incoming call authentication unit 5 of the center server C. Here, we will explain the processing that is performed after step S3, in which the processing unit 1 identifies the user's telephone number x from information input from the user terminal A and requests the calculation unit 3 of the center server C to calculate the trust of this telephone number x.

[0042] In step S201, the processing unit 1 requests the incoming call authentication unit 5 to perform incoming call authentication for the user's telephone number x. In step S202, the incoming call authentication unit 5, which has received the incoming call authentication request, randomly selects one authentication telephone number y (for example, 050-yyyy-yyyy) from among a plurality of authentication telephone numbers and issues it to the processing unit 1. In step S203, the incoming call authentication unit 5 stores the issued authentication telephone number y in association with the user's telephone number x. The authentication telephone number y is a telephone number for accessing the incoming call authentication unit 5. Meanwhile, the processing unit 1 determines the trustworthiness in step S7, and if the result is NG, displays the NG result on user terminal A (step S8), and if OK, proceeds to step S204, instructs the incoming call authentication unit 5 to start authentication, and in step S205 displays the authentication telephone number y on user terminal A.

[0043] If a call is made from user terminal A (telephone number x) to authentication telephone number y (step S206) within a predetermined time from the instruction to start authentication in step S204, the incoming call authentication unit 5 performs incoming call authentication in step S207. Specifically, the incoming call authentication unit 5 determines whether the set of telephone number x of the calling user terminal A and the received authentication telephone number y matches the data stored in step S203. If the two match, the incoming call authentication unit 5 transmits an authentication OK result to the processing unit 1 in step S208. In step S209, the processing unit 1 displays a message to user terminal A to proceed with providing the service.

[0044] Furthermore, if the set of the user's telephone number x and authentication telephone number y does not match the stored data in step S207, the incoming call authentication unit 5 transmits an NG result (authentication not possible) to the processing unit 1 in step S210, and the processing unit 1 displays the NG result on the user terminal A in step S211. By combining incoming call authentication in this manner, the correspondence between the user and telephone number x can be confirmed, and user impersonation can be prevented. Therefore, authentication can be performed efficiently with higher accuracy. Note that in FIG. 4, the service management device B1 requests incoming call authentication (S201) before determining the trustworthiness (S7). However, since authentication by the incoming call authentication unit 5 is performed separately from the trustworthiness calculation by the calculation unit 3, the timing of the incoming call authentication request is not limited to the above.

[0045] In the above description, the processing unit 1 of a specific service management device B1 is referred to as a specific service management means, but all of the multiple service management devices B have the same functions. Therefore, when accessed by the user terminal A, any of the service management devices B functions in the same way as the service management device B1.

[0046] Furthermore, all black phone number lists 2 are managed individually by the service providers that provide the corresponding services, but when a phone number is deleted from one of the black phone number lists 2, the other service providers may be notified of this. For example, when phone number z is deleted from a specific black phone number list 2, the corresponding processing unit 1 notifies the calculation unit 3 of the center server C of this. Upon receiving this notification, the calculation unit 3 references the other black phone number lists 2 and identifies the black phone number list 2 that includes the phone number z. The calculation unit 3 then notifies the processing unit 1 corresponding to the identified black phone number list 2 that phone number z has been deleted from the other black phone number list 2.

[0047] On the processing unit 1 side that receives the deletion information, the corresponding service provider can take that fact into consideration and revise the black phone number list 2 for their own service. The black phone number list 2 should contain telephone numbers of black users for the corresponding service. However, if a telephone number has been deleted from the list, it means that for some reason the number is no longer a black user for the corresponding service. If the black information registered in a company's black phone number list is the type that changes over time, the company may refer to deletion information from other companies and decide that it is okay to delete it from the black phone number list 2.

[0048] Alternatively, the number of times that telephone number z has been deleted from the black phone number list 2 of another service may be counted, and this number may be used as the criterion for deleting telephone number z from the black phone number list 2. In this way, telephone number z that has once been registered on the black phone number list can be prevented from being permanently unable to use that service. In this case, the calculation unit 3 of the center server C functions as the notification means of the present invention, but a separate notification means may also be provided that only notifies that a telephone number has been deleted.

[0049] It is useful in a variety of situations where authentication is required.

[0050] A User terminal B, B1, ... Bn Service management device 1 (Service management means) Processing unit 2, 2' List of suspicious telephone numbers 3 (Credibility calculation means) Calculation unit 4 Reference telephone number list 5 (Authentication means) Incoming call authentication unit C Center server

Claims

1. A creditworthiness confirmation system having: a plurality of black phone number lists, created for each service, in which the telephone numbers of service users are registered with associated black phone number information according to the standards of the service provider that provides the service; a service management means provided for each of the services; and a creditworthiness calculation means that references the black phone number lists, calculates the creditworthiness of specific telephone numbers based on the registration status of the specific telephone numbers in the referenced black phone number lists, and outputs the calculation result, wherein the specific telephone numbers are telephone numbers sent from a specific service management means to the creditworthiness calculation means together with a creditworthiness calculation request, and the black phone number lists are grouped based on the industry of the corresponding service, and when the creditworthiness calculation means receives the calculation request, it calculates the creditworthiness by reference to information in the black phone number lists included in the same group as the black phone number list corresponding to the specific service management means that is the sender of the calculation request, and sends the calculation result to the service management means that is the sender of the calculation request.

2. The creditworthiness confirmation system according to claim 1, wherein the service management means has a function of determining whether or not it is necessary to restrict the provision of the service corresponding to the service management means based on the calculation result received from the creditworthiness calculation means.

3. The creditworthiness confirmation system according to claim 2, wherein the service management means has a function of notifying the service user of the specified telephone number of an authentication telephone number when it is determined that the service can be provided, and has authentication means for authenticating the service user when a call is made to the authentication telephone number from the specified telephone number of the service user.

4. A creditworthiness confirmation system as described in claim 1, which includes a reference telephone number list in which suspicious telephone numbers extracted based on criteria other than those of the service provider are registered, and the creditworthiness calculation means calculates the creditworthiness of the specific telephone number by referring to the reference telephone number list.

5. A creditworthiness verification system as described in claim 1, further comprising a notification means for, when a telephone number associated with the above-mentioned warning information is deleted from one of the plurality of warning telephone number lists, notifying a service management means that manages services corresponding to warning telephone number lists other than the one in question that the telephone number has been deleted.

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