Fraud Solution Profile

Email address intelligence represents a powerful first line of defence against fraud. Every email address is a digital fingerprint, telling us huge amounts of information about the person behind it – and their intent – if we know where to look.

By screening a person’s email address when they create an account online, we can therefore uncover red flags and warning signs that tell us whether this person is who they say they are – and if there’s a chance they may be about to commit fraud or other malicious activity.

How email verification can fight fraud

With an email verification solution in place, businesses can automatically check an email address at the point of account creation in real time, and take action based on the specific fraud risks detected. Benefits include:

• Real-time detection of fraud risks: Email address verification is fast, allowing you to screen new sign-ups at the point they first enter their email address – not after they create an account
• Enable automated rules and blocklists: Spot common patterns and clues that an email address may represent a fraud risk, and implement rules that respond to those risks
• Reduced need for manual reviews: Have confidence that your data is free of fake or disposable email addresses, and spend more time focusing on other fraud and security risks

About ASSESS

ASSESS is the name of our unique anti-fraud solution. Like other email verification solutions, it uses a simple, robust API to provide real-time intelligence on any email address. What makes ASSESS different, however, is that we use dozens of insight points from our own and trusted third-party sources to detect fraud-specific risks with a high level of accuracy and sophistication in real time.

Some of the benefits of ASSESS include:

• The ASSESS Trust Score: For every sign up we verify, we provide an aggregated, weighted trust score so you can easily make decisions based on a wide range of factors
• Detect disposable email addresses 24/7: We’re at the forefront of the industry when it comes to detecting disposable email addresses – one of the most common techniques used by fraudsters to create fake accounts online
• Advanced gibberish detection: ASSESS uses sophisticated, next-generation gibberish detection to spot signs that an email address has been created by a bot or fraudster, reducing the need for manual reviews
• Plus-address scoring: A fast-growing technique used by bots and fraudsters, plus-addressing refers to the use of multiple email addresses for a single inbox. ASSESS provides a unique plus-address scoring feature to grade plus-addresses and qualify user intent.
• Domain insight:  Understanding the age of domains and their reputation provides insight into the credibility of the sign up. 

We also include other ‘secret sauce’ checks to extend the value and accuracy of ASSESS.

Case study: Detecting that 1 in 5 sign-ups are toxic

Sulake is the creator of Habbo, a social platform that’s the world’s most popular online hang-out for teenagers. With over 850,000 active users each month, Sulake has a huge responsibility to protect its teenage end users from online abuse and fraud – acts that often rely on fraudsters’ ability to create fake accounts using disposable email addresses.

By using Email Hippo, Sulake was able to determine that as many as one in five of new account sign-ups were toxic – and then implement automatic rules to stop toxic individuals at the border.

Read our case study here to find out more: Email verification works to detect that 1 in 5 sign-ups are toxic

About Email Hippo

Email Hippo was established in 2000 as an email checking tool. In the time since, we’ve launched MORE and ASSESS – two API-based solutions designed to help online businesses detect suspicious sign-ups and fraud risks – while continuing to improve our technology and intelligence to stay at the forefront of email verification.

In 2017, we became the first provider in the space to be accredited to ISO27001. We also received the most prestigious award for a UK company: a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, awarded specifically for our innovation in fraud detection and prevention.