AgniPrintJS

FraudShield: Detect and prevent marketplace scams with real-time visitor fingerprinting, ensuring safer online transactions through advanced fraud analysis and behavior tracking.

Comment

Fraud Detection in Marketplace Listings using FingerprintJS

📌 Project Overview

This project aims to detect scammers and fraudsters who create fake listings for properties, cars, and electronics in an online marketplace. By leveraging FingerprintJS, the system captures visitor identities and analyzes suspicious behavior to prevent fraudulent activities.

🚀 How the System Works

1️⃣ Capturing Visitor Information

  • When a user submits a listing form, their visitor ID is captured via FingerprintJS.
  • This visitor ID is stored in the database and linked to the listing for tracking purposes.

2️⃣ Admin Dashboard for Fraud Detection

  • Admins can view visitor records and analyze multiple request IDs associated with the same visitor.
  • The system fetches visitor data from FingerprintJS API, including:
    • ✅ Browser details (Chrome, Firefox, etc.)
    • ✅ Incognito Mode Usage (Detects private browsing)
    • ✅ Device Information (Mobile, Desktop)

3️⃣ Deep Dive into Suspicious Visitors

  • Clicking on "Additional Information" allows admins to fetch:
    • ✅ Bot Detection (Detects if the user is a bot)
    • ✅ VPN & Proxy Detection (Identifies hidden IPs)
    • ✅ Tampering & Spoofing Attempts (Detects fraudulent user behavior)

4️⃣ Identifying Fraudsters

  • If the same visitor ID appears in multiple fraudulent listings, it raises suspicion.
  • Pattern analysis helps detect repeat offenders and prevent further fraud.

🎯 Key Features

✔ Real-time Fraud Monitoring: Captures visitor IDs upon listing submission.
✔ Multiple Request ID Tracking: Links multiple requests to a single visitor.
✔ FingerprintJS Integration: Fetches visitor metadata for fraud analysis.
✔ Bot, VPN, & Tampering Detection: Flags suspicious visitors.
✔ Admin Dashboard: Allows deeper investigation into potential fraudsters.

💡 Inspiration

The inspiration for this project came from the increasing number of fake listings on online marketplaces, where fraudsters create deceptive advertisements to scam buyers. Many platforms lack real-time fraud detection mechanisms, making it difficult to identify repeat offenders. By integrating FingerprintJS, we aim to add an extra layer of security to detect fraudulent users.

📚 What We Learned

  • Visitor fingerprinting can be highly effective in fraud detection.
  • Pattern analysis is essential to identify repeat offenders.
  • Admin dashboards play a crucial role in real-time fraud monitoring.
  • VPN and proxy detection can prevent scammers from hiding their identities.

🛠 How We Built It

Tech Stack

  • Frontend: React.js (Admin Dashboard)
  • Backend: Node.js & Express.js (API for fraud detection)
  • Database: SQLite3 (Storing visitor IDs & listing data)
  • Fraud Detection: FingerprintJS API for user identification & behavior analysis
  • Deployment: Docker for containerized services

🔥 Challenges We Faced

  1. Optimizing performance

    • The system needed to fetch and process visitor data quickly for real-time fraud monitoring.

  2. Integrating FingerprintJS effectively

    • We had to ensure unique visitor identification worked across different devices and browsers.

🚀 Future Improvements

  • Implement Machine Learning models for advanced fraud detection.
  • Enhance pattern recognition algorithms for better accuracy.
  • Expand the system to detect fraud across multiple marketplaces.
  • Improve the admin dashboard UI for better usability.

📌 Conclusion

This project provides an effective fraud detection mechanism for online marketplaces by leveraging visitor fingerprinting technology. By identifying repeat offenders and suspicious activities, we can reduce fraudulent listings and make online marketplaces safer for users.

Share this project:

Updates