When users connect to a website through a proxy, they’re trying to hide their connection details in order to engage in high risk behavior. This includes credit card fraud & chargebacks, account creation & login attempts, advertising click fraud, ecommerce purchase abuse, scraping, and other malicious activities. Proxies can be used for legitimate purposes, but most often, they are used by fraudsters & cybercriminals. The ability to detect proxies and VPN connections can reduce fraud & abuse for websites & apps, improve user experience and security, and increase revenue.
Detecting proxies & VPNs requires a combination of several methods. The most effective approach is a device fingerprinting service, which compares the user agent and IP address with a database of known proxies & VPNs. This can identify many different types of proxies and VPNs, including ad-supported proxies, SOCKS, transparent proxies, TOR nodes, and more. Other techniques for detecting proxies include latency tests and open port pings, which look for suspicious delays in the delivery of data.
The results from these various detection methods are then combined with a reputation score to provide an overall assessment of the user’s trustworthiness. This is then used to determine if the user is likely a fraudster, or not. Using a combination of methods like this allows fraud managers to create more accurate risk scores and better understand the behavior of their users.
Fraud detection and prevention can be done in many ways, but the most important factor is identifying which activities are likely to occur. Detecting proxies, VPNs and other suspicious activity can help fraud teams take action quickly to prevent or limit fraudulent activity before it occurs. This helps reduce costs, improve compliance and user experiences, and lower the risk of a significant loss.
A proxy detection API is an essential tool for any business looking to protect their customers online. This is because fraudsters use proxies and VPNs to conceal their real locations and identity in order to commit high risk behaviors.
Proxy and VPN detection is just one part of our complete IP geolocation API, which also offers advanced features such as risk scoring, identity verification, and behavioral analysis. This can be used to identify and stop the most sophisticated cybercrime, reducing fraud & improving user experiences for websites & apps.
Performing an IP lookup will return the full details of an IP address, including its location, internet service provider, autonomous system number (ASN), blacklist status, device information, and more. The proxy and VPN detection API also provides additional insight by combining these data points with the reputation score to provide an assessment of the user’s trustworthiness. It can then be used to inform decisions about whether or not to allow the user access to a site or app, or to block or flag them for suspicious behavior. To learn more about the full power of our IP geolocation API, visit our documentation page.