Patent ID: 9723463
Date: 2017-08-01
CPC Classifications: G06F,G06Q,H04W

Claim:
1. A method comprising: receiving from a user device a user request to access a service platform of a service provider from an unregistered user, and the service platform comprising at least one processor, wherein the access comprises access by the unregistered user to a service on the service platform; determining, by the service platform, one or more identifiers associated with the user device, wherein the one or more identifiers are device identifiers and comprise one or more of an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), a Mobile Country Code (MCC), a Mobile Network Code (MNC), and a Mobile Station Identifier Number (MSIN); generating a record of the access with respect to the one or more identifiers; determining based on the one or more identifiers whether the user device has previously accessed the service; associating the record from one or more previous accesses to the service with the user device while the user remains unregistered with a user account after the unregistered user creates a registered user account; and causing, at least in part, a heuristic analysis of the one or more identifiers to determine whether the user device has previously accessed the service when at least two of the identifiers are matched in the record of the one or more previous accesses to the service, wherein the heuristic analysis is based, at least in part, on assigning different identification strengths to the one or more identifiers based on characteristics of the one or more identifiers, the strengths reflecting how readily the one or more identifiers transferred from one device to another or from one user to another.