At+t Corp.

Charles M Jankowitz

Valentine C Matula

Gary A Munson

Fang Wu

Richard Mandelbaum

The risk of fraud associated with access by a subscriber to a network (42) is managed by a system that includes a data base (46) that stores a record for each subscriber indicative of that subscriber's usage history and payment ability for each service to which that subscriber has access. Additionally, the subscriber's record also stores an individual service risk characteristic indicative of the risk of providing access by the subscriber to a particular service, as well as a composite risk characteristic indicative of an overall risk of access. In response to a request for access to a particular service by a subscriber, the data base (46) responds in accordance with the subscriber's individual service risk characteristic for the service sought as well as the composite risk characteristic. In this way, account is taken of the subscriber's usage and payment ability with respect to all services available to the subscriber, rather than the single service sought by the subscriber.

Risk management technique for network access

Prior to completing a telephone call, a database is accessed within a telecommunications network to determine whether the call should be completed. The billing number to which the call is to be charged is compared to a customer record assigned to the billing number and stored in the database. The customer record is checked against a treatment category code which combines geographic call restrictions and thresholding. A call may be identified as potentially fraudulent and blocked if the customer record associated with the billing number indicates that the account is in arrears. In addition, at predetermined intervals during the progress of the call and at the end of each allowed call to be charged to that billing number, the time and/or cost of each call is estimated and added to the total stored in a user-defined threshold counter in the database. When the total stored in the counter exceeds a predetermined threshold limit, a potentially fraudulent call is identified. In this manner, call authorization is performed on a per call basis to prevent fraudulent telephone calls.

Growing community of inventors

Old Bridge, NJ, United States of America

Charles M Jankowitz