Methods and apparatus for identifying fraudulent callers

1. A method of voice print matching which comprises:

receiving a telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

separating a first portion of the telephonic communication into silent and non-silent segments;

evaluating the non-silent segments to determine which portions thereof are speech or non-speech;

generating a plurality of parameters that determine what is speech and non-speech in the non-silent segments;

using the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

comparing the speech to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

selecting a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize the speech of the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

selecting audio elements of the speech that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM; and

comparing the selected audio elements of the speech to matching audio elements of a plurality of recorded voice prints from a plurality of fraudulent speakers to determine whether the speech belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first portion comprises a pre-selected time period.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the pre-selected time period is the first 30 seconds to 1 minute of the telephonic communication.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of parameters are generated for each communication received.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein evaluating the non-silent segments comprises grouping all non-speech sounds together.

6. The method of claim 1 , which further comprises identifying a fraudulent speaker if the speech at least substantially matches any of the voice prints of the plurality of fraudulent speakers.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the fraudulent speaker comprises scoring each of a group of telephonic communications in a range of probabilities that there is a match with a known fraudulent speaker.

8. The method of claim 1 , which further comprises recording and storing the telephonic communication in an uncompressed audio format.

9. An audible fraud detection system, comprising:

a node comprising a processor and a computer readable medium operably coupled thereto, the computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein that are accessible to, and executable by, the processor, wherein the plurality of instructions comprises:

instructions, that when executed, receive a telephonic communication from an unknown caller via a network;

instructions, that when executed, separate a first portion of the communication into silent and non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments to determine which portions are speech or non-speech;

instructions, that when executed, generate a plurality of parameters based on the evaluated non-silent segments that determine what is speech and non-speech;

instructions, that when executed, use the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

instructions, that when executed, compare the speech to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize the speech of the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the speech that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM; and

instructions, that when executed, compare the selected audio elements of the speech to matching audio elements of a plurality of recorded voice prints from a plurality of fraudulent speakers to determine whether the speech belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first portion comprises a pre-selected time period.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of parameters are generated for each communication received.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments comprise instructions to group all non-speech sounds together.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions, that when executed, receive a telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

instructions, that when executed, separate a first portion at the beginning of the communication into silent and non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments to determine which portions are speech and non-speech;

instructions, that when executed, generate a plurality of parameters based on the evaluated non-silent segments that determine what is speech and non-speech;

instructions, that when executed, use the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

instructions, that when executed, compare the speech to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize the speech of the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the speech that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM; and

instructions, that when executed, compare the selected audio elements of the speech matching audio elements of a plurality of recorded voice prints to determine whether the speech belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the first portion comprises a pre-selected time period.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of parameters are generated for each communication received.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments, comprise instructions to group all non-speech together.

17. A method of detecting a fraudulent speaker comprising:

receiving a telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

separating a first portion of the telephonic communication into silent and non-silent segments;

evaluating the non-silent segments to determine which portions thereof are speech or non-speech;

generating a plurality of parameters that determine what is speech and non-speech in the non-silent segments;

using the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

comparing the speech of the unknown caller to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

selecting a number of audio elements of the UBM that most characterize the creation of a voice print for the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

selecting audio elements of the voice print that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM;

comparing the selected audio elements of the voice print to matching audio elements of voice prints of a plurality of fraudulent speakers stored in a database; and

determining if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the number of selected audio elements of the UBM is from about 10 to 30.

19. The method of claim 17 , which further comprises identifying the gender of the speaker in a voice print.

20. The method of claim 19 , which further comprises accessing a library of voice prints for the identified gender.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker comprises:

scoring a group of telephonic communications within a range of probabilities that a match exists; and

isolating communications with a score above a pre-selected match-probability threshold.

22. An audible fraud detection system, comprising:

a node comprising a processor and a computer readable medium operably coupled thereto, the computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein and being accessible to, and executable by, the processor, where the plurality of instructions comprises:

instructions, that when executed, receive a voice audio communication from a telephonic communication from an unknown caller via a network;

instructions, that when executed, separate a first portion of the telephonic communication into silent and non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments to determine which portions thereof are speech or non-speech;

instructions, that when executed generate a plurality of parameters that determine what is speech and non-speech in the non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed use the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

instructions, that when executed, compare the speech of the unknown caller to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that most characterize creation of a voice print for the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM to create a voice print from the voice audio communication;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the voice print that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, compare the selected audio elements of the voice print to matching audio elements of one or more stored voice prints of a plurality of fraudulent speakers stored in a database; and

instructions, that when executed, determine if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the number of selected audio elements of the UBM is from about 10 to 30.

24. The system of claim 22 , further comprising instructions, that when executed, identify the gender of the voice print.

25. The system of claim 23 , wherein the instructions, that when executed, determine if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker, comprise:

instructions to score a group of telephonic communications within a range or probabilities that a match exists; and

isolate communications with a score above a pre-selected match-probability threshold.

26. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions, that when executed, receive a voice audio communication through a telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

instructions, that when executed, separate a first portion of the telephonic communication into silent and non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments to determine which portions thereof are speech or non-speech;

instructions, that when executed generate a plurality of parameters that determine what is speech and non-speech in the non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed use the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

instructions, that when executed, compare the speech of the unknown caller to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that most characterize creation of a voice print for the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM to create a voice print from the voice audio communication;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the voice print that correspond to audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, compare the selected audio elements of the voice print to matching audio elements of one or more stored voice prints of a plurality of fraudulent speakers in a database; and

instructions, that when executed, determine if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26 , further comprising instructions, that when executed, identify the gender of the voice print.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the instructions, that when executed, determine if the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker, comprise:

instructions to score a group of telephonic communications within a range of probabilities that a match exists; and

isolate communications with a score above a pre-selected match-probability threshold.

29. A method of detecting a fraudulent speaker, which comprises:

creating a voice print from a received telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

comparing the voice print to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

selecting a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize the voice print of the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

selecting audio elements of the voice print that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM;

scoring the selected audio elements of the voice print against matching audio elements of one or more voice prints of a plurality of fraudulent speakers that are stored in a database;

calculating an adjustment factor based on the scores of the voice print against the stored voice prints and the scores of other unknown voice prints against the stored voice prints; and

comparing the adjustment factor of the voice print to adjustment factors of the other unknown voice prints to determine the probability that the voice print belongs to a fraudulent speaker.

30. The method of claim 29 , which further comprises isolating the scores that meet a threshold value.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein the threshold value is set dynamically.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein the adjustment factor is calculated for each communication received.

33. An audible fraud detection system, which comprises:

a node comprising a processor and a computer readable medium operably coupled thereto, the computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein that are accessible to, and executable by, the processor, where the plurality of instructions comprises:

instructions, that when executed, receive a telephonic communication from an unknown caller via a network and create an unknown voice print;

instructions, that when executed, compare the unknown voice print to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize the unknown voice print of the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the unknown voice print that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, score the unknown voice print against stored voice prints in a database by comparing the selected audio elements of the unknown voice print to matching audio elements of the stored voice prints;

instructions, that when executed, compute an adjustment factor for each telecommunication received that is based on the score of each unknown voice print compared to the stored voice prints; and

instructions, that when executed, compare the adjustment factors for each unknown voice print to determine which voice print is from a fraudulent speaker.

34. The system of claim 33 , further comprising instructions, that when executed, isolate the scores that meet or exceed a pre-set, universal threshold value that is indicative of the probability the unknown voice print was created by a fraudster.

35. The system of claim 33 , wherein the adjustment factor is calculated for each communication received.

36. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored therein, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions, that when executed, receive a telephonic communication from an unknown caller;

instructions, that when executed, separate a first portion of the telephonic communication into silent and non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed, evaluate the non-silent segments to determine which portions thereof are speech or non-speech;

instructions, that when executed generate a plurality of parameters that determine what is speech and non-speech in the non-silent segments;

instructions, that when executed use the generated parameters to determine what is speech and non-speech for at least the remainder of the telephonic communication;

instructions, that when executed, compare the speech of the unknown caller to a Universal Background Model (UBM);

instructions, that when executed, select a number of audio elements of the UBM that characterize an unknown voice print created from the communication from the unknown caller relative to other audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, select audio elements of the unknown voice print that correspond to the selected audio elements of the UBM;

instructions, that when executed, compare the selected audio elements of the unknown voice print to matching audio elements of voice prints stored in a database to create a score for each unknown voice print;

instructions, that when executed, compute an adjustment factor based on the score of each voice print against stored voice prints; and

instructions, that when executed, compare the adjustment factors for each unknown voiceprint to determine which voice print is a fraudster.

37. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36 , further comprising instructions, that when executed, isolate the scores that meet or exceed a pre-set, universal threshold value that is indicative of the probability the voice print was created by a fraudster.

38. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36 , wherein the adjustment factor is calculated for each communication received.