Patent Issued for Verification of caller identification using application (USPTO 11558502): United Services Automobile Association

2023 FEB 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Howell, Michael W. (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on June 23, 2020, was published online on January 17, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11558502 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Phone companies can detect a phone number, if it is identified, of an incoming call and display the phone number to the user. Some users will store phone numbers in a list of contacts on their device, and their device can then display a business or other name associated with the phone number. Unfortunately, scammers and spoofers can send phone numbers, names, and/or location information through the phone system that can identify the call as originating from a different business and/or location. Therefore, users may answer the phone because they believe that they are receiving a legitimate call from a known business. Users may provide private and/or personal information to the caller that can result in fraud or identify theft.

“The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Many enterprises and institutions call a user for legitimate purposes. However, users often do not answer the call because they are unsure about the identity of the caller. Even when the user recognizes the name and/or number, he or she is aware that the name and/or number can be spoofed. Many fraudsters and spoofers will manipulate the information sent with the phone call to appear to be a legitimate business, such as the Social Security Administration or a bank. The caller identification system can then present the information to the user, who may believe the call is legitimate. If the user answers the phone, he or she may provide personal and/or sensitive information that can result in identify theft or loss of money.

“Methods, systems, and apparatus disclosed herein can provide technical advantages over conventional caller identification systems by verifying the identify of a caller based on information sent in a data packet from a verified enterprise or business. Such a technique can improve a user’s interaction with verified enterprises as a visual confirmation can be presented on the display of the user’s phone or other device to identify verified calls, thus providing a technical solution for identifying verified enterprises. Additionally, the disclosed system can allow the user to better interact with the verified enterprises, such as by not missing returned or important calls (e.g., from a bank, doctor’s office, etc.). Furthermore, a technical solution is provided for reducing and/or eliminating fraud as a user can avoid answering a call that is not verified, even if the caller identification has identified the call as originating from a known caller, such as their bank. Such a technique can, for example, reduce fraud caused by spoofers who are pretending to be someone else. The example headings for the various sections below are used to facilitate the understanding of the disclosed subject matter and do not limit the scope of the claimed subject matter in any way. Accordingly, one or more features of one section can be combined with one or more features of another section.

“I. Identify a Verified Caller”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for identifying that a communication is from a verified enterprise, comprising: receiving, by a device associated with a user, a data packet from a phone network, the data packet being included in a communication to the device, wherein the device includes an application configured to verify communications from at least one enterprise; identifying, by the application, a token within the data packet; comparing, by the application, the token to at least one token identifier associated with the at least one enterprise; in response to the token corresponding to the at least one token identifier, performing a token-verification, by the application, to determine that the communication is from the at least one enterprise; and in response to the communication being token-verified: displaying, by the application, a validation image on the device, and playing an audible token-based verification notification that identifies the at least one enterprise.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying, by the application, at least one of a phone number and a name within the data packet; comparing, by the application, at least one of the phone number and the name within the data packet to the at least one phone number and name, respectively, that are included in the application and associated with the at least one enterprise; and in response to at least one of the phone number and the name in the data packet corresponding to the at least one phone number and the name in the application, respectively, verifying, by the application, that the communication is from the at least one enterprise.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is a phone call or a text message.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a voicemail associated with the communication when the communication is verified, wherein the voicemail is stored by the device using visual voicemail; and displaying, by the application, the validation image associated with the voicemail.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation image is a non-ASCII image.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of validation images wherein each of the validation images is associated with a different enterprise.

“7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication is a phone call, the displaying further comprising displaying the validation image and at least one of a phone number and a name associated with the phone call on the device.

“8. The method of claim 7, wherein the validation image is displayed before the phone call is answered.

“9. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is running in a background mode on the device.

“10. A system for identifying that a communication is from a verified enterprise, comprising: a server configured to: determine, by an application on a device associated with a user, that the device has received a data packet from a phone network, the data packet being included in a communication to the device, wherein the application is configured to verify communications from at least one enterprise; identify, by the application, a token within the data packet; compare, by the application, the token to at least one token identifier associated with the at least one enterprise; in response to the token corresponding to the at least one token identifier, performing a token-verification by the application, to determine that the communication is from the at least one enterprise; and in response to the communication being token-verified: display, by the application, a validation image on the device, and playing an audible token-based verification notification that identifies the at least one enterprise as a token-verified sender of the communication.

“11. The system of claim 10, wherein the server is further configured to: identify, by the application, at least one of a phone number and a name within the data packet; compare, by the application, at least one of the phone number and the name within the data packet to the at least one phone number and name, respectively, that are included in the application and associated with the at least one enterprise; and in response to at least one of the phone number and the name in the data packet corresponding to the at least one phone number and the name in the application, respectively, verify, by the application, that the communication is from the at least one enterprise.

“12. The system of claim 10, wherein the communication is a phone call or a text message.

“13. The system of claim 10, wherein the server is further configured to: identify, by the application, a voicemail associated with the communication when the communication is verified, wherein the voicemail is stored by the device using visual voicemail; and display, by the application, the validation image associated with the voicemail.

“14. The system of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of validation images wherein each of the validation images is associated with a different enterprise.

“15. The system of claim 10, wherein the communication is a phone call, wherein the server is further configured to display, by the application, the validation image and at least one of a phone number and a name associated with the phone call on the device, wherein the validation image is displayed before the phone call is answered.

“16. The system of claim 10, wherein the application is running in a background mode on the device.

“17. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, direct the one or more processors to perform a method comprising: receiving, by a device associated with a user, a data packet from a phone network, the data packet being included in a communication to the device, wherein the device includes an application configured to verify communications from at least one enterprise; identifying, by the application, a token within the data packet; comparing, by the application, the token to at least one token identifier associated with the at least one enterprise; in response to the token corresponding to the at least one token identifier, performing a token-verification, by the application, to determine that the communication is from the at least one enterprise; and in response to the communication being token-verified: displaying, by the application, a validation image on the device, playing an audible token-based verification notification that identifies the at least one enterprise as a token-verified sender of the communication.

“18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: identifying, by the application, at least one of a phone number and a name within the data packet; comparing, by the application, at least one of the phone number and the name within the data packet to the at least one phone number and name, respectively, that are included in the application and associated with the at least one enterprise; and in response to at least one of the phone number and the name in the data packet corresponding to the at least one phone number and the name in the application, respectively, verifying, by the application, that the communication is from the at least one enterprise.

“19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: identifying a voicemail associated with the communication when the communication is verified, wherein the voicemail is stored by the device using visual voicemail; and displaying, by the application, the validation image associated with the voicemail.

“20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the communication is a phone call, the displaying further comprising displaying the validation image and at least one of a phone number and a name associated with the phone call on the device.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Howell, Michael W. Verification of caller identification using application. U.S. Patent Number 11558502, filed June 23, 2020, and published online on January 17, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11558502)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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