Patent ID: 7035823

Claim:
A computer implemented method for determining a normal customer behavior profile that includes a plurality of transactions pertaining to an activity, said normal behavior profile being used to alert of an unusual activity, said method comprising the steps of: selecting, at a computer, a number of prototypical transactions from said plurality of transactions; arranging, at the computer, the selected prototypical transactions collected during a first predetermined time interval into a first behavior profile; obtaining, at the computer, a plurality of first behavior profiles during a second predetermined time interval that is comprised of a plurality of first predetermined time intervals; arranging, at the computer, the first behavior profiles obtained during said second predetermined time interval into a number of clusters; determining, at the computer, a prototypical first behavior profile for each cluster; and arranging, at the computer, the determined prototypical first behavior profiles into a plurality of records for representing a second behavior profile; wherein said steps of arranging the first behavior profiles and determining said prototypical first behavior profile comprise: designating, at the computer, a number of first behavior profiles as respective centers for the clusters; finding, at the computer, a closest center to each remaining first behavior profile; assigning, at the computer, each remaining first behavior profile to said closest center; recalculating, at the computer, each center for a corresponding cluster according to said step of assigning; and repeating, at the computer, said steps of designating, finding, assigning and recalculating until a membership of each cluster does not change.