When a person connects to the internet, they’re assigned an IP risk scoring. This allows a business to determine where the user is based, what kind of network configuration they have and whether they appear suspicious or not.

But a fraudster’s nefarious intentions aren’t always clear-cut. For example, a user in Europe might use a proxy to hide their location, or someone using a public library computer might do so because their home connection is down.

For these reasons, businesses must use a wide range of data to help protect their customers and prevent fraud. An IP risk score is a powerful tool for minimising the risk of threat actors entering a website or app.

IP Risk Scoring: Evaluating the Threat Level of IP Addresses for Enhanced Security

The minFraud family of services offers IP risk scoring, as well as a rich set of user and transaction data analysis including Phone Validation and Address Verification. This service uses a wealth of tests and machine learning to provide a highly accurate risk assessment for users, orders, transactions and their associated addresses and phone numbers.

This is used in conjunction with other data sources to identify and prevent fraud, increase efficiencies and minimise merchant losses. Unlike blacklists, which block the user’s IP address, the service checks each individual connection and assigns a risk score. This is then applied to each subsequent interaction, ensuring that fraudsters and other bad actors are not given a free pass. The score is also adjusted for factors such as velocity, which is a measure of how often the IP address has been seen connecting to servers.