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ModulesFraud DetectionOverview

Fraud Detection

An add-on to the Request Manager that quietly scores incoming gift/aid requests for signs of duplicate or abusive submissions — the same household or recipient getting help repeatedly through slightly different details — while not punishing genuine high-volume requestors like a case worker filing for many different children. It flags only; it never auto-blocks a request. You decide what to do with each flag.

Who this is for: anyone with the request_manage capability. Members can see flags and the review queue; editors run AI assessments, confirm/dismiss, manage the allowlist, and rescan; admins can delete flags and allowlist entries.

Enabling Fraud Detection

Fraud Detection is a self-serve extension, but it only does anything useful when the Request Manager is also enabled — it scores that module’s requests. Turn it on from the extension catalog (Settings → Extensions). A Fraud Review item then appears in the navigation under Operations.

The deterministic scoring runs automatically on every new request, with or without AI. The AI assessment (the plain-English rationale) is the only part that needs AI: open Settings → AI, turn on the master toggle, and make sure an API key is present.

How scoring works

When a request comes in, CartonCrew compares it against your other requests (only ever within your own organization — there is no cross-tenant matching) and adds up matching signals into a risk score of 0–100, which maps to a Low / Medium / High level. A flag is only created at Medium or above.

Signals it looks for include:

  • Same email or same phone as another request (exact identity).
  • Same address, a very similar address, or geographic proximity (within about 75m).
  • Same recipient reached through a different requestor — the strongest “double-dipping” signal.
  • Shared email domain (ignoring common free domains like gmail.com).
  • Fuzzy requestor name or a shared surname across requests (padding).
  • Velocity — several requests sharing one identity or address key in a short window.
  • High-value items (electronics, consoles, gift cards, e-bikes, and the like) — a booster on a request that already looks like a duplicate, not a flag on its own.

Scoring is role-aware and trust-aware:

  • A request from a known high-volume role (case worker, social worker, foster parent) filing for many different recipients is down-weighted — that’s a legitimate case load, not abuse.
  • A verified or known requester on file, or a requestor name that matches a known volunteer, gets a trust discount that lowers the score (a strong duplicate cluster will still flag, just at a lower level).

The Fraud Review queue

Open Fraud Review to work through flags. Each flag card shows the flagged requestor, their city/state and recipient, the risk level badge, the deterministic score (and AI score once assessed), the request’s status, and signal chips summarizing why it flagged (Same address, Same recipient, Velocity, and so on).

Filter by risk level (All / High / Medium / Low) and status (Open / Confirmed / Dismissed / All) — it opens on Open flags by default. Refresh reloads; Rescan all rebuilds the match data and re-scores every existing request (use this after first enabling the extension, or to pick up new matches).

What each control does

  • View cluster — opens the matched requests side by side, with the differing fields highlighted, so you can judge whether they’re really the same household.
  • Assess with AI — runs an AI assessment that weighs the signals (including the legitimate patterns) and writes a short rationale, stored on the flag. Needs AI turned on in Settings → AI.
  • Confirm — marks the flag as suspicious (confirmed).
  • Dismiss — marks the flag as fine. Both Confirm and Dismiss record who reviewed it.
  • Allowlist… — record a known-legitimate key so it stops re-flagging. You’re prompted for a key type (address, requestor, recipient, email, or phone) and a reason (e.g. “Jane Doe — county case worker”). Allowlisted keys contribute nothing to future scores.

The inbox “Review” pill

So a flagged request can’t quietly get fulfilled, an inline ⚠ Review pill appears on flagged rows in the Requests inbox (showing the risk level). Clicking it jumps to Fraud Review. This only shows when the Fraud Detection extension is enabled.

Gotchas

  • Flags are advisory. No request is ever auto-blocked or auto-rejected.
  • AI assessment needs AI on. Without it, you still get the deterministic score, signals, and cluster view — just no AI rationale. The “Assess with AI” button will error if AI is off for your org.
  • Confirm/Dismiss decisions stick. A later re-score won’t silently wipe a flag you’ve already reviewed; automatic clearing only applies to open flags that no longer match.
  • No cross-organization matching. Every comparison is pinned to your own organization.

Last updated: 2026-06-09 · Applies to: CartonCrew v1.110+

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