Call Duration Throttling for Fraud Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computer-implemented services face issues with fraudulent call operations, such as international revenue sharing fraud, where malicious actors place numerous long-duration calls to incur high costs and waste resources, including computing and network infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an apparatus that tracks call durations and throttles additional calls to a phone number when the summed durations exceed a predefined threshold, preventing excessive and fraudulent call placements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the service places phone calls to designated phone numbers as part of automated operations, then the service can perform multifactor authentication and automated help desk operations, but malevolent actors can exploit this to carry out fraudulent operations such as international revenue sharing fraud
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing call duration thresholds and tracking call patterns before fraudulent operations can cause significant harm. The processor monitors cumulative call durations and proactively throttles call placement when thresholds are approached, preventing IRSF operations from escalating
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring call durations, comparing them against established thresholds, and dynamically adjusting call placement decisions. The processor receives feedback from call duration tracking and uses this information to control subsequent call placement, creating a closed-loop system that adapts to detected fraud patterns
2Loss of energy
If multiple calls of long durations are placed to certain phone numbers for fraudulent purposes, then international carriers may charge high prices and network operators lose monetary resources, but the fraudulent operations consume excessive computing and network infrastructure resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and isolates the fraudulent call patterns from the legitimate call traffic by identifying calls that exceed duration thresholds. The processor separates fraudulent calls from normal operations and applies throttling specifically to the fraudulent portion, allowing legitimate calls to continue while blocking fraudulent ones
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of call duration monitoring from individual call tracking to cumulative duration tracking. By monitoring the sum of call durations against thresholds and adjusting throttling decisions based on cumulative totals, the system optimizes resource protection while maintaining service functionality
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the service places numerous long-duration calls, then fraudulent costs increase and resources are wasted, but throttling call placement may interfere with legitimate automated operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial throttling by blocking only the excessive portion of call placements that exceed duration thresholds. Rather than completely blocking all calls to protected phone numbers, the processor allows calls within normal duration ranges while throttling only the fraudulent excessive calls, maintaining a balance between fraud prevention and service functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments call traffic into fraudulent and legitimate portions by analyzing call duration patterns. The processor divides the call stream and applies different handling rules to each segment - blocking fraudulent calls that exceed thresholds while allowing legitimate calls to proceed, thereby protecting against fraud without interfering with normal operations
Data Source
AI summary
According to examples, an apparatus may include a processor and a computer readable medium on which is stored machine readable instructions that may cause the processor to determine a call duration threshold assigned to an entity, in which a phone number may be associated with the entity. The processor may also track durations of one or more calls placed to the phone number, determine whether the tracked durations of the one or more calls placed to the phone number meet or exceed the call duration threshold, and based on a determination that the tracked durations meet or exceed the call duration threshold, throttle placement of an additional call to the phone number.