A Simple Step to Drastically Reduce Fraud

Most types of fraud rely on somebody (aka the fraudster) pretending to be somebody else (aka the victim). We can therefore reasonably deduce that, by accurately proving that somebody is who they say they are, fraud can be dramatically reduced.

OK, OK, you’re probably thinking ‘thanks Captain Obvious 👨‍✈️ for that profound insight…’ to which I say – you’re most welcome!

Of course the challenge is that accurately proving somebody is who they claim to be just isn’t that easy. Sometimes you’ll have methods like two-factor authentication at your disposal, and other times you won’t (like when a new application is submitted or when a device is lost or stolen – more on that here). You may even rely on using security questions to verify somebody (clutch my pearls! 😱) but these questions are frequently forgotten by users and easily exploited by fraudsters.

But don’t worry! There’s a powerful step you can add to your verification process. It’s called Geo Authentication and it works like this:

1️⃣ Enter the email address or phone number of the person you’d like to verify into Honey Badger (manually or via API) and we’ll let you know if they have an existing Geo Profile. A Geo Profile is a series of images that the individual has previously selected as being nearby to an address they know well and are recognizable to them.

2️⃣ If they do have an existing Geo Profile you can immediately issue a Geo Authentication challenge via email, SMS or web URL. Alternatively, if they don’t have an existing Geo Profile, you’ll be prompted to supply an address for the individual being verified (such as their home address)

3️⃣ The person being verified will receive a Geo Authentication challenge that shows a series of images. The individual simply selects the images they recognize from their Geo Profile (or from nearby to their address if they don’t have an existing profile).

Within seconds you’ll see a visual confirmation telling you if the individual has passed the Geo Authentication challenge. The beauty of this approach is that the correct individual can easily recognize the images from nearby or that were previously added to their profile, whereas fraudsters cannot. This step takes just a few seconds and provides significant benefits, including:

✅ Unlike traditional security questions, Geo Authentication challenges are based on visual recognition of meaningful places that are not easily forgotten

✅ Authentication can be carried out when no existing information is held on an individual or when two-factor authentication isn’t an option

✅ Fraudsters cannot easily source or social engineer the answers

✅ The process is extremely user friendly, with users just having to select images to pass the challenge

So, there you have it. The one simple step that you can add to your verification process to dramatically reduce fraud. You can book a demo of Geo Authentication here. Or, if you’d like to start issuing Geo Authentication challenges right away, drop us a message at hello@honeybadgerhq.com and we’ll get you started with some free credits.

Honey Badger HQ