Patent ID: 8050983

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for automatically inhibiting fraudulent messages between buyers and sellers, the method comprising: providing, by one or more configured computing systems, an electronic marketplace that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of items so as to enable the buyers and sellers to engage in transactions involving the items, the electronic marketplace further providing capabilities for buyers and sellers to exchange messages related to transactions; and for a message sent by a buyer or by a seller, before forwarding the message to an intended recipient for the message, automatically determining whether the message is likely to be fraudulent, by: automatically computing a fraud assessment score for the message based on applying, by the one or more configured computing systems, multiple fraud assessment tests to the message, the multiple fraud assessment tests including at least one keyword assessment test to assess presence of one or more predefined keywords in the message and including at least one similarity assessment test to assess similarity between the message and previously received messages and including at least one of a group that includes a test based on a length of time that the sender has been registered with the electronic marketplace and that includes a test based on a number of prior transactions in which the sender has engaged within the electronic marketplace; and automatically determining that the message is likely to be fraudulent if the computed fraud assessment score for the message exceeds a selected fraudulence threshold, and wherein the message is automatically blocked from being forwarded to the intended recipient for the message if the message is automatically determined to be likely to be fraudulent.