Are High-Security Checks Worth It?

by Florian Tanant
At SEON, we pride ourselves on our data enrichment processes. But the term can be confusing to business owners – and even to some fraud managers. Let’s dive into what it means to enrich data and how it can protect your company in the long run.
Data enrichment is about gathering extra information based on a few data points. A Google search using someone’s name, for instance, constitutes manual data enrichment. An automated solution will aggregate extra data automatically from various sources, such as open-source databases or social media networks.
In fraud detection, the more data you have about your users, the more informed your decisions can be when calculating risk. The process of gathering information often comes from data augmentation, as it allows you to complete a picture without necessarily asking users to submit the information themselves.
Getting more data is always good. But not all tools will help you get the right information. Here is a breakdown of the most commonly used data enrichment tools in fraud prevention.
But before you go into a deep dive, maybe you would like to see an example. Type your email address or phone number in the field below to see how SEON enriches data to spot potential fraudsters.
Chances are that all your users will need to sign up with an email address. This simple data field can reveal a lot by comparing it with external databases:
Deep social media profiling and domain verification, for instance, is a science SEON is proud to offer through our email risk analysis API.
Similar to email addresses, an IP lookup tool can reveal a lot about who your users truly are.
Another great example of enriching simple data points through external data sources. BIN (Bank Identification Numbers), also known as IIN (Issuer Identification Numbers) can tell us a lot about a card:
This is what, at SEON, we call Device Fingerprinting. Quite simply, it’s the ability to tell a lot based on the device the user connects to your site with:
Of course, all the points above are easy to fake or enter with stolen information. Which is why data enrichment is only truly valuable in fraud prevention when combined with a solution designed to understand it.
How is that possible? In two words: machine learning. Now that we have created a large scale data set, it’s time to feed into a ML model to analyze, report, and reveal insights. At this stage, organizations may create different models based on their needs.
Whichever the model, by feeding it through an ML system, your simple data point has now been enriched, transformed, and turned into a powerful weapon in your fight against fraudulent users.
Data enrichment isn’t just an option for fraud prevention: it is one of the most crucial processes which allows you to get a clear picture of who your users are – whether it’s in the travel industry or for an online gambling platform.
However, gathering data is just one part of the process. It is meaningless without proper analysis. And the only way to pore over this data to turn it into insights is through machine learning tools. Combining data enrichment with machine learning is what improves risk-based decision making, maximizes resources to fight against fraud, and outsmarts malicious users whose goal is to damage your business.
Most fraud prevention software includes data enrichment functions as part of their pricing. However, you may find certain providers break the tools into different modules where you only pay for IP analysis, email address analysis or phone analysis. You usually pay on a per API call basis.
Data enrichment is useful in fraud prevention, cybersecurity, but also marketing and online retail. It helps to learn more about your users based on as few datapoints as possible.
You might also be interested in reading about:
Learn more about:
Browser Fingerprinting | Device Fingerprinting | Fraud Detection API | Fraud Detection with Machine Learning & AI
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Communication Specialist | Florian helps tech startups and global leaders organise their thoughts, find their voices, and connect with customers worldwide.
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