fraud-detection

2 posts

daangn

The Journey to Karrot Pay’ (opens in new tab)

Daangn Pay has evolved its Fraud Detection System (FDS) from a traditional rule-based architecture to a sophisticated AI-powered framework to better protect user assets and combat evolving financial scams. By implementing a modular rule engine and integrating Large Language Models (LLMs), the platform has significantly reduced manual review times and improved its response to emerging fraud trends. This transition allows for consistent, context-aware risk assessment while maintaining compliance with strict financial regulations. ### Modular Rule Engine Architecture * The system is built on a "Lego-like" structure consisting of three components: Conditions (basic units like account age or transfer frequency), Rules (logical combinations of conditions), and Policies (groups of rules with specific sanction levels). * This modularity allows non-developers to adjust thresholds—such as changing a "30-day membership" requirement to "70 days"—in real-time to respond to sudden shifts in fraud patterns. * Data flows through two distinct paths: a Synchronous API for immediate blocking decisions (e.g., during a live transfer) and an Asynchronous Stream for high-volume, real-time monitoring where slight latency is acceptable. ### Risk Evaluation and Post-Processing * Events undergo a structured pipeline beginning with ingestion, followed by multi-layered evaluation through the rule engine to determine the final risk score. * The post-processing phase incorporates LLM analysis to evaluate behavioral context, which is then used to trigger alerts for human operators or apply automated user sanctions. * Implementation of this engine led to a measurable decrease in information requests from financial and investigative authorities, indicating a higher rate of internal prevention. ### LLM Integration for Contextual Analysis * To solve the inconsistency and time lag of manual reviews—which previously took between 5 and 20 minutes per case—Daangn Pay integrated Claude 3.5 Sonnet via AWS Bedrock. * The system overcomes strict financial "network isolation" regulations by utilizing an "Innovative Financial Service" designation, allowing the use of cloud-based generative AI within a regulated environment. * The technical implementation uses a specialized data collector that pulls fraud history from BigQuery into a Redis cache to build structured, multi-step prompts for the LLM. * The AI provides evaluations in a structured JSON format, assessing whether a transaction is fraudulent based on specific criteria and providing the reasoning behind the decision. The combination of a flexible, rule-based foundation and context-aware LLM analysis demonstrates how fintech companies can scale security operations. For organizations facing high-volume fraud, the modular approach ensures immediate technical agility, while AI integration provides the nuanced judgment necessary to handle complex social engineering tactics.

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Complex user authentication processes are (opens in new tab)

Designing a robust membership authentication system is a critical early-stage requirement that prevents long-term technical debt and protects a platform’s integrity. By analyzing the renewal of the Demaecan delivery service, it is evident that choosing the right authentication mechanism depends heavily on regional infrastructure and a balance between security costs and user friction. Ultimately, a well-structured authentication flow can simultaneously reduce fraud rates and significantly lower user drop-off during registration. ### The Consequences of Weak Authentication Neglecting authentication design during the initial stages of a project often leads to "ghost members" and operational hurdles that are difficult to rectify later. * **Data Integrity Issues:** Without verification, databases fill with unreachable or fake contact information, such as invalid phone numbers. * **Onboarding Blockers:** Legitimate new users may be prevented from signing up if their recycled phone numbers are already linked to unverified legacy accounts. * **Marketing Abuse:** A lack of unique identifiers makes it impossible to prevent bad actors from creating multiple accounts to exploit promotional coupons or events. ### Regional Differences in Verification Authentication strategies must be tailored to the specific digital infrastructure of the target market, as "identity verification" varies globally. * **Domestic (Korea) Standards:** Highly integrated systems allow for "Identity Verification," which combines possession (OTP) and real-name data through telecommunications companies or banking systems. * **Global and Japanese Standards:** Most regions lack a centralized government-linked identity system, relying instead on "Possession Authentication" via email or SMS, or simple two-factor authentication (2FA). * **Verification Expiration:** High-security services must define clear validity periods for authentication data and determine how long to retain data after a user withdraws to prevent immediate re-abuse. ### Strategic Fraud Prevention via IVR When SMS-based possession authentication becomes insufficient to stop determined abusers, shifting the economic cost for the fraudster is an effective solution. * **SMS vs. Voice (IVR):** In Japan, acquiring phone numbers capable of receiving voice calls is more expensive than acquiring SMS-only numbers. * **IVR Implementation:** By switching to call-based (Inbound Voice Response) authentication, Demaecan increased the barrier to entry for abusers. * **Impact:** This strategic shift in authentication type reduced the fraudulent user rate from over 20% to just 1.5%. ### Optimizing Sign-up UX and Retention A complex authentication process does not have to result in high churn if the UI flow is logically organized and user-friendly. * **Logical Grouping:** Grouping similar tasks—such as placing phone and email verification sequentially—helps users understand the progression of the sign-up flow. * **Streamlined Data Entry:** Integrating social login buttons early in the process allows for email auto-fill, reducing the number of manual input fields for the user. * **Safety Nets:** Implementing simple "back" buttons for correcting typos during email verification and adding warning dialogs when a user tries to close the window significantly reduces accidental exits. * **Performance Metrics:** These UX improvements led to a 30% decrease in user attrition, proving that structured flows can mitigate the friction of multi-step verification. To build a successful authentication system, planners should prioritize the most cost-effective verification method for their specific market and focus on grouping steps logically to maintain a smooth user experience. Monitoring conversion logs is essential to identify and fix specific points in the flow where users might struggle.