Equifax has launched two fraud-risk products that assess an email address and the device used in an online session. Signal Score for Email and Signal Score for Device are intended for checks at points such as account sign-up and checkout, where businesses need to decide whether to allow a transaction, request another verification step or send it for further review.
Signal Score for Email evaluates the age, history and risk associated with an address. Signal Score for Device examines details of a computer or phone, along with location and network information. Equifax says it links those digital signals with its consumer identity data to help customers assess whether a session is consistent with the person presenting it.
The products are available separately or together through application programming interfaces. That allows a retailer, bank or telecom provider to add either score to an existing fraud-management process without replacing its current system. Equifax positions the checks for internal risk teams handling account creation, online orders and other digital interactions.
The company says the scores are aimed at automated fraud, including script-driven account farming, as well as account takeover and synthetic identity activity. A device can be manipulated or obscured through an emulator or virtual private network, while an email address can be created specifically for a fraudulent registration. Combining the two signals gives a business more than one way to assess an interaction before it completes.
Equifax is emphasizing real-time risk checks at the start of a live session, before a suspicious registration or purchase is completed. Device intelligence has become a distinct fraud-control layer as providers combine hardware, network and behavioral signals. Document fraud remains another challenge for identity checks, particularly when a business asks a new user to prove who they are during onboarding.
Equifax’s two scores help a business judge the risk of a digital identifier and the environment in which an online interaction is taking place. The company says both products use its own data and identity linkage to deliver a real-time score through a customer’s existing fraud workflow.
Sources: Equifax
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
