Nethone, the Know Your Users AI-powered fraud prevention company, has unveiled its proprietary solution that detects VPN and proxy connections, including residential proxies, even those used by skilled fraudsters to commit a wide range of online abuses in e-commerce and financial space.

Behavioural detection by Nethone serves as a powerful weapon against such threats, effectively identifying even the shadiest VPNs and proxies predominantly used for fraudulent activities such as account takeover (ATO), account opening fraud, and payment fraud.

Precise detection of proxies and VPNs offers key benefits for merchants and financial institutions:

• Protect against large-scale payment fraud attacks

• Prevent browser automation, including: web scraping, account creation fraud, price or inventory manipulation (e.g., "sneaker bots" that bid on rare items)

• Detect and stop compliance breaches in industries that require strict regulations, like gambling or crypto, by making sure customers are not hiding their true location

The company’s own darknet research has identified that more than 80% of fraudster tactics involve the use of a VPN or proxy service to carry out successful online fraud attempts. By hiding their IP addresses and true geographic locations, fraudsters avoid detection and deceive unsuspecting victims. Particularly in ATO cases, fraudsters strive to hide any info that might give them away,  and mimic the victim's behaviour once in control. 

While many fraud prevention companies can detect proxy and VPN connections originating from well-known services, these detection methods often rely on easily traceable data from third-party providers. What sets Nethone apart is that they don't depend on outdated lists that may not include the latest VPNs and proxies being used by fraudsters. Instead, they actively identify suspicious behaviour and potential malicious actions in real-time. 

Maciej Pitucha, Chief Data Officer comments: “Skilled fraudsters avoid well-known VPN services, opting for those popular among their community on the dark web. But we manage to stay one step ahead of them and detect all VPNs, therefore blocking fraudsters from causing damage while offering genuine users a frictionless experience.” 

Nethone has a dedicated Fraud Intelligence team that is constantly searching for new fraud tactics on the Darkweb to learn who and what cybercriminals have on their radar, and what new ideas they apply to succeed. They gather intelligence and reverse-engineer fraudsters’ techniques to improve fraud recognition.

VPN and proxy detection is part of a large suite of risks detected by Nethone Guard - the company’s flagship fraud prevention product. Nethone offers a free trial for developers and fraud managers interested in seeing the product in action - a no-pressure way to see how it works and explore its benefits.