Methods and systems for verification of an affiliation of a call initiator with an organization
A method for verifying, by a receiver during a call, an alleged affiliation of an initiator with an organization comprises: receiving an initiator request comprising one or more first identifiers; generating a verification secret in response to the initiator request; sending the verification secret to the initiator; storing the verification secret in a database; receiving a receiver request to verify an alleged verification secret, the receiver request comprising one or more second identifiers; if there is a match between the second identifier(s) and the first identifier(s), comparing the alleged verification secret to the verification secret; and sending to the receiver: a positive response if there is a match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret; or a negative response if there is no match between the second identifier(s) and the first identifier(s) or there is no match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret.
1 . A method, performed by a verification server, of verifying, by a receiver during a call, an alleged affiliation of an initiator with an organization, the method comprising:
receiving, at the verification server, an initiator login request from the initiator via an initiator interface;
authenticating, by the verification server, the initiator login request;
receiving, at the verification server, an initiator verification request from the initiator via the initiator interface, the initiator verification request comprising one or more first identifiers representative of the alleged affiliation;
confirming, by the verification server, the alleged affiliation based at least in part on the one or more first identifiers;
in response to a positive confirmation via the confirming step, generating, by the verification server, a verification secret in response to the initiator verification request;
sending the verification secret from the verification server to the initiator via the initiator interface;
storing the verification secret in association with the one or more first identifiers in a database accessible to the verification server;
receiving, at the verification server, a receiver request to verify an alleged verification secret from the receiver via a receiver interface, the receiver request comprising one or more second identifiers representative of the alleged affiliation;
comparing, by the verification server, the one or more second identifiers to the one or more first identifiers stored in the database and determining, by the verification server, that there is a match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers;
comparing, by the verification server, the alleged verification secret to the verification secret and determining, by the verification server, that there is a match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret; and
in response to determining the match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers and determining the match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret, sending from the verification server to the receiver via the receiver interface, a positive response that the alleged affiliation of the initiator with the organization is legitimate.
2 . A system for verifying, by a receiver during a call, an alleged affiliation of an initiator with an organization, the system comprising one or more verification processors, the one or more verification processors configured to:
receive, at the one or more verification processors, an initiator login request from the initiator via an initiator interface;
authenticate the initiator login request;
receive, at the one or more verification processors, an initiator verification request from the initiator via the initiation interface, the initiator verification request comprising one or more first identifiers representative of an alleged affiliation;
confirm the alleged affiliation based at least in part on the one or more identifiers;
in response to a positive confirmation of the alleged affiliation, generate a verification secret in response to the initiator verification request;
send the verification secret from the one or more verification processors to the initiator via the initiator interface;
store the verification secret in association with the one or more first identifiers in a database accessible to the one or more verification processors;
receive, at the one or more verification processors, a receiver request to verify an alleged verification secret from the receiver via a receiver interface, the receiver request comprising one or more second identifiers representative of the alleged affiliation;
compare the one or more second identifiers to the one or more first identifiers stored in the database and, determine that there is a match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers;
compare the alleged verification secret to the verification secret and determine that there is a match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret; and
in response to determining the match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers and determining the match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret, send from the one or more verification processors to the receiver via the receiver interface, a positive response that the alleged affiliation of the initiator with the organization is legitimate.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the alleged verification secret comprises one or more images.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein:
the one or more first identifiers comprises a receiver identifier;
the one or more second identifiers comprises an alleged receiver identifier;
the receiver identifier comprises a name of the receiver; and
the alleged receiver identifier comprises an alleged name of the receiver.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more first identifiers comprises an initiator identifier, and the one or more second identifiers comprises an alleged initiator identifier.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the initiator identifier and the alleged initiator identifier comprise a name of the organization.
7 . The method of claim 1 comprising storing, in the database, a transaction record comprising the initiator verification request, and the receiver request.
8 . The method of claim 1 comprising:
receiving a time of receipt of the initiator verification request;
receiving a time of receipt of the receiver request; and
calculating a delay time between the time of receipt of the initiator verification request and the time of receipt of the receiver request; and
in response to determining that the delay time is less than a configurable threshold delay time, the match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers, and the match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret, sending, from the verification server to the receiver via the receiver interface, the positive response.
9 . The method of claim 1 comprising, in response to determining the match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers and determining the match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret, sending from the verification server to the initiator via the initiator interface, a positive initiator response indicating that the alleged verification secret has been successfully verified by the receiver.
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein sending the positive response from the verification server to the receiver via the receiver interface comprises causing the receiver interface to display a configurable visual indicator to the receiver.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the configurable visual indicator comprises one or both of: text, and a color.
12 . The method of claim 1 wherein the call comprises a voice call.
13 . The method of claim 1 wherein the call comprises a text chat.
14 . The method of claim 1 comprising, prior to the step of receiving the receiver request:
receiving, at the verification server, a receiver login request from the receiver via the receiver interface; and
authenticating, by the verification server, the receiver login request.
15 . The method of claim 1 wherein the call is initiated by the initiator on a first initiator device, and wherein the initiator verification request is received via the initiator interface via a second initiator device different from the first initiator device.
16 . The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more verification processors are configured to store, in the database, a transaction record comprising the initiator verification request, and the receiver request.
17 . The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more verification processors are configured to, in response to determining the match between the one or more second identifiers and the one or more first identifiers and determining the match between the alleged verification secret and the verification secret, send to the initiator via the initiator interface, a positive initiator response that the alleged verification secret has been successfully verified by the receiver.
18 . The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more verification processors are configured to cause the receiver interface to display a configurable visual indicator to the receiver after sending the positive response to the receiver via the receiver interface.
19 . The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more verification processors are configured to, prior to receiving the receiver request:
receive a receiver login request from the receiver via the receiver interface; and
authenticate the receiver login request.