Document Overlay Detection via Bounding Box Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the digital age, detecting fraudulent overlays in documents, such as PDFs, is challenging due to the ability to seamlessly alter digital content without visual indications of tampering, making it difficult to verify the presence of critical information like bank account numbers or routing numbers, which can lead to scams when malicious actors conceal legitimate destinations for financial transfers.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method analyzes the visual elements of documents to identify potentially fraudulent overlays by calculating bounding boxes and updating an attack vector ontology, enabling automated systems to detect and prevent the printing or signing of such documents, using a machine-readable ontology to improve fraud detection at a large scale.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated review of document code or markup is performed, then review speed increases, but detection accuracy of fraudulent overlays decreases because the original code remains even when elements are fully concealed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional code-based automated review with visual element-based analysis. Instead of reviewing the underlying code or markup that remains even when elements are concealed, the system analyzes the actual visual elements and their spatial relationships. This substitution enables both high-speed automated review and accurate detection of fraudulent overlays by examining the rendered visual content and detecting inconsistencies in element positioning, transparency, and layering.
2Measurement precision
If human visual review is performed, then detection accuracy of fraudulent overlays improves, but review time and resource requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the document review system to automatically detect and highlight potential fraudulent overlays without requiring human intervention. The system performs autonomous analysis of visual elements, identifies inconsistencies in layering and positioning, and presents findings that can be directly acted upon, eliminating the time-consuming manual review process while maintaining high detection accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If document elements are layered to conceal information, then document flexibility and editability improve, but security and detectability of tampering worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs color and transparency analysis to detect fraudulent overlays. The system examines the transparency values, color properties, and layering of document elements to identify inconsistencies that indicate tampering. By analyzing these visual properties, the system can detect when elements have been strategically layered to conceal information, maintaining the flexibility of document editing while improving security through automated detection of deceptive layering patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of analyzing the contents of a file in a visual document format to identify a potentially-fraudulent overlay is disclosed. The method includes receiving the file, iterating over a set of visually rendered elements within the file, and calculating, for each element in the set, a bounding box. Based on identifying a pair of elements having at least partially overlapping bounding boxes, such that a visible item in an overlaid element at least partially obscures an item in an underlying element that would otherwise be visible, an attack vector ontology is updated to include information on the overlaid and underlying element. This attack vector ontology may be used in training an automatic system to identify fraudulent documents and prevent their being printed, signed, and/or further used.