Patent Publication Number: US-2009222274-A1

Title: Preventing fraud in a virtual universe

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to virtual universes, and more specifically to preventing fraudulent phishing activity in a virtual universe. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Virtual universes or virtual worlds are computer-based simulated environments intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars, which are graphical representations that others can see. An avatar often takes the form of a cartoon-like human character. An agent is a user&#39;s account with a virtual universe, upon which the user can build an avatar. The agent is tied to the inventory of assets the user owns. These types of virtual universes are now common in massive multiplayer online games, such as Second Life (Second Life is a trademark of Linden Research in the United States, other countries, or both). Avatars in the virtual universes can do a wide range of business and/or social activities. Virtual universes may include other virtual entities such as a virtual store, a virtual club, an article, etc. Each virtual entity including an avatar is assigned with a universally unique identification (UUID) in the virtual universe. 
     A variety of fraudulent behaviors may be conducted in virtual universes. For example, phishing refers to a form of fraud in which an entity, such as a website or a virtual store, masquerades as another entity by, e.g., copying the other entity&#39;s appearance and/or other characteristics. The goal of the fraudulent emulation is to, e.g., lure visitors into providing personal or financial information, which the fraudulent/phishing entity may use for monetary gains. Presently, no adequate solution exists to prevent or reduce phishing in a virtual universe. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment, there is a method for tagging a virtual entity in a virtual universe. In this embodiment, the method comprises: providing a mechanism for a user of the virtual universe to report a conduct of the virtual entity; receiving the report from the user; and tagging the virtual entity based on the report in a public manner in the virtual universe. 
     In a second embodiment, there is a system for tagging a virtual entity in a virtual universe. In this embodiment, the system comprises: system for providing a mechanism for a user of the virtual universe to report a conduct of the virtual entity; system for receiving the report from the user; and system for tagging the virtual entity based on the report in a public manner in the virtual universe. 
     In a third embodiment, there is a computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium. In this embodiment, this program product comprises: computer usable program code which, when executed by a computer system, enables the computer system to: provide a mechanism for a user of the virtual universe to report a conduct of the virtual entity; receive the report from the user; and tag the virtual entity based on the report in a public manner in the virtual universe. 
     In a fourth embodiment, there is a method for providing a system for tagging a virtual entity in a virtual universe. In this embodiment, the method comprises at least one of: creating, maintaining, deploying or supporting a computer infrastructure being operable to: provide a mechanism for a user of the virtual universe to report a conduct of the virtual entity; receive the report from the user; and tag the virtual entity based on the report in a public manner in the virtual universe. 
     Other aspects and features of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following non-limited detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a system according to one embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows embodiments of an operation of a fraudulence preventing system according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements among the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following detailed description of embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. Other embodiments having different structures and operations do not depart from the scope of the present invention. 
     1. System Overview 
       FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a system  10  according to an embodiment. System  10  includes a virtual world user(s)  12 , a virtual world server(s)  14  and an administration center  16 . Virtual world server  14  supports a virtual universe  24  including at least one virtual region  26  (shown together with virtual universe  24 ) where virtual world user  12  may conduct activities via a virtual world representation  28  usually referred to as an avatar  28 . Virtual universe  24  may also include various other virtual entities  30 , such as a virtual store. In this description, other virtual entities  30  and avatar  28  may be generally referred to as a virtual entity  28 / 30 , unless specifically indicated otherwise. To this extent, in the current description, virtual entity  28 / 30  refers to any virtual representation in virtual universe  24  including, for example, avatar  28 , virtual region  26  and/or a virtual place, e.g., a virtual store, within virtual region  26 , an article in virtual region  26 , such as a car of avatar  28 , etc. In operation, user  12  attends virtual universe  24  through a virtual world client/agent  32 , e.g., a virtual world account established through, e.g., a personal computer, communicatively coupled to virtual world server  14 . Virtual entities  28 / 30  interact with one another in the virtual activities. 
     Administration center  16  includes a fraudulence preventing system  38 . Fraudulence preventing system  38  includes a deploying unit  40 ; a report receiving unit  42 ; a tagging unit  44  including a report processing unit  46  and an investigating unit  48 ; an implementing unit  50 ; and a storing unit  52 . Other component(s) required for the operation of fraudulence preventing system  38  may also be included as is understood in the art. 
     According to an embodiment, administration center  16  may be implemented by a computer system. The computer system can comprise any general purpose computing article of manufacture capable of executing computer program code installed thereon to perform the process described herein. The computer system can also comprise any specific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardware and/or computer program code for performing specific functions, any computing article of manufacture that comprises a combination of specific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. In each case, the program code and hardware can be created using standard programming and engineering techniques, respectively. 
     As should be appreciated, virtual world server  14  and administration center  16  and components thereof may be positioned at the same physical location or may be at different physical locations. The interaction of system  10  components will be described herein in detail. 
     2. Operation Methodology 
     An embodiment of the operation of fraudulence preventing system  38  is shown in the flow diagram of  FIG. 2 . Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , collectively, in process S 1 , deploying unit  40  may deploy/provide a mechanism for user  12  of virtual universe  24  to report a conduct of an entity  28 / 30 . Any solution may be used to enable the reporting. For example, deploying unit  40  may change the user interface of virtual world client/agent  32  of user  12  to include a command to implement the reporting. Typically, users  12  of virtual universe  24  are able to select an entity  28 / 30  within virtual universe  24  for an action, which is commonly achieved through an input device such as a mouse and/or a keyboard. An input combination may display to user  12  a “context” menu for a selected entity  28 / 30 , which may display candidate/appropriate action(s) to be performed with respect to the selected entity  28 / 30 . According to an embodiment, deploying unit  40  may modify the “context” menu to add an action to report a conduct of the selected entity  28 / 30 . The enabled reporting may be implemented in various manners. For example, a report may describe the conduct or may summarily tag entity  28 / 30  based on the conduct. 
     In process S 2 , report receiving unit  42  receives a report from a user  12  regarding an entity  28 / 30 . According to an embodiment, report receiving unit  42  may filter the reports to allow only reports of interest to be further processed. For example, a report of a fraudulent/phishing conduct of an entity  28 / 30  may be of interest. As described herein, the report may describe the phishing conduct in detail or may just label/tag the entity  28 / 30  as committing a phishing conduct(s). The phishing entity  28 / 30  may either be avatar  28  or other entities  30 . For example, a report may indicate that an avatar  28  fraudulently emulates another avatar  28 . For another example, a report may indicate a virtual store  30  fraudulently emulates the appearance of another virtual store  30  doing business in virtual universe  24 , or fraudulently emulates a store doing business outside virtual universe  24  by presenting an unauthorized virtual representation of the outside store in virtual universe  24 . 
     According to an embodiment, report receiving unit  42  may associate the UUID of the entity  28 / 30  being reported with other information related to the report. For example, the UUID of the virtual entity  28 / 30  may be associated with the reported conduct, the UUID of the user  12  who makes the report, the date and time of the report, the location coordinate(s) (virtual location) of the reporting user  12  at the time of the report, UUID or user ID of other avatar  28  or user  12  within a specified radius of the reported virtual entity  28 / 30 , etc. 
     In process S 3 , tagging unit  44  tags the entity  28 / 30  based on the report in a public manner in virtual universe  24 /virtual region  26 . The tagging is public such that, for example in the case that a phishing conduct is reported, other user  12  may become aware of the phishing characteristic of the tagged entity  28 / 30 . The public tagging may be implemented by any solution. For example, when an entity  28 / 30  is tagged as committing a phishing conduct(s), an audio and/or visual alert may be attached to the entity  28 / 30  such that other user  12  may clearly notice that. In addition, the UUID of the tagged entity  28 / 30  may be associated with the tag in any manner. 
     Process S 3  may include multiple sub-processes. In sub-process S 3 - 1 , report processing unit  46  may process the report(s) to determine whether the report reliably represents the reported entity  28 / 30 . A report may be unreliable for various reasons. For example, a competitor may tend to forge bad reports against a virtual store  30  with malicious intent. An avatar  28  may over report a single bad experience with a virtual store  30  by repeatedly reporting the bad experience. Report processing unit  46  may use any standard in determining an unreliable report(s). For example, report processing unit  46  may delete: duplicate reports by the same user  12  regarding the same issue; reports by those known to be in competition with the reported entity  28 / 30 ; reports by a user  12  who has been tagged as fraudulent; or reports older than a specific time limit. In addition, report processing unit  46  may also set some threshold, e.g., empirical threshold, in determining whether a report reliably represent the entity  28 / 30 , i.e., whether the threshold is satisfied. For example, the threshold may be: the number of users  12  reporting the same kind of conduct of an entity  28 / 30 , e.g., phishing; the percentage of users  12  within a certain radius of the entity  28 / 30  who report phishing conduct(s) of the entity  28 / 30 ; percentage of users  12  who had transactions with the entity  28 / 30  and later reported phishing conducts, etc. Moreover, report processing unit  46  may assign certificate/privilege to some virtual entity  28 / 30  to circumvent the normal standards. For example, a virtual store  30  may be certified as reliable and all phishing reports regarding the virtual store  30  will be deleted as unreliable. For another example, an avatar  28 , e.g., a virtual police officer, may be certified as reliable and reports from the avatar  28  are deemed reliable without meeting the threshold(s). 
     In sub-process S 3 - 2 , in the case that a report is determined as reliable, tagging unit  44  may tag the respective virtual entity  28 / 30  based on the reliable report. For example, tagging unit  44  may further determine whether the report meets predetermined criteria, e.g., set for a specific type of conduct (fraudulence conduct). In response to the report meeting the criteria, tagging unit  44  may retrieve/determine a rule(s) associated with the criteria. The rule may stipulate how the entity  28 / 30  will be tagged and what further fraudulence prevention actions may be performed on the entity  28 / 30 . The retrieved rule(s) may be applied to tag the virtual entity. 
     In sub-process S 3 - 3 , investigating unit  48 , in addition to the public tagging, may also further investigate the reported conduct, e.g., a phishing conduct, by communicating separately to at least one of the reporting user  12 , another user  12  (other than the reporting user  12 ), the tagged entity  28 / 30 , or an administrator of virtual universe  24 . For example a message may be sent to those entities separately to notify the tagging of the virtual entity  28 / 30  as, e.g., fraudulent (phishing), and may further investigate the reporting and/or the tagging before those entities. For example, the reporting user  12  may be inquired regarding the reported conduct; the tagged entity  28 / 30  may be given an opportunity to argue against the tagging; other user  12  may either support or raise questions regarding the tagging/reporting; and the administrator may provide further information regarding, e.g., how the reported virtual entity  28 / 30  is established and operated in virtual universe  24 . 
     In process S 4 , implementing unit  50  may invoke specified fraud response/prevention process(es) in the case that a virtual entity  28 / 30  is tagged as fraudulent/phishing. Any response may be implemented. For example, the account of the fraudulent/phishing entity  28 / 30  may be suspended. For another example, virtual universe features available to the entity  28 / 30  may be revoked or reduced, such as revoking rights to engage in transactions, to chat, to move beyond specific boundary coordinates, etc. 
     In process S 5 , storing unit  52  may store the tag of a virtual entity  28 / 30  in association with other information related to the reporting and the tagging. For example, the tag will be associated with the UUID of the virtual entity  28 / 30 . The other associated information may include the UUID of the one that reports the conduct, the date and time of the report, the location coordinate(s) (virtual location) of the user  12 /avatar  28  at the time of the report, UUID or user ID of other avatars  26  or users  12  within a specified radius of the tagged virtual entity  28 / 30 , etc. 
     3. Conclusion 
     While shown and described herein as a method and system for tagging a virtual entity in a virtual universe, it is understood that the invention further provides various alternative embodiments. For example, in an embodiment, the invention provides a program product stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer infrastructure to tag an entity in a virtual universe. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as fraudulence preventing system  38  ( FIG. 1 ), which implements the process described herein. It is understood that the term “computer-readable medium” comprises one or more of any type of physical embodiment of the program code. In particular, the computer-readable medium can comprise program code embodied on one or more portable storage articles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape, etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computing device, and/or as a data signal traveling over a network (e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the program product). 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a method of providing a system for tagging an entity in a virtual universe. In this case, a computer system, such as administrator  16  ( FIG. 1 ), can be generated (e.g., created, deployed, maintained, having made available to, supported etc.) and one or more programs/systems, e.g., fraudulence preventing system  38  ( FIG. 1 ), for performing the process described herein can be obtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computer system. To this extent, the deployment can comprise one or more of: (1) installing program code on a computing device, such as administration center  16  ( FIG. 1 ), from a computer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computing devices to the computer system; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing devices of the computer system, to enable the computer system to perform the process described herein. 
     It should be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention could be offered as a business method on a subscription or fee basis. For example, a fraudulence preventing system  38  ( FIG. 1 ), and a computing device comprising fraudulence preventing system  38  ( FIG. 1 ) could be created, maintained and/or deployed by a service provider that offers the functions described herein for customers. That is, a service provider could offer to provide a service to conduct a marketing activity as described above. 
     As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and “computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions that cause a computing device having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after any combination of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; (b) reproduction in a different material form; and/or (c) decompression. To this extent, program code can be embodied as one or more types of program products, such as an application/software program, component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basic I/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and the like. Further, it is understood that the terms “component” and “system” are synonymous as used herein and represent any combination of hardware and/or software capable of performing some function(s). 
     The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that the invention has other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific embodiments described herein.