Grab opens anti-fraud toolkit for partners

via Tech in Asia

Grab announced today that it will open its internally developed fraud-prevention technology to third parties, enabling its strategic partners and others to combat online fraud.

Named Grab Defense, the suite of tools and APIs is built around the app’s treasure trove of data and its experience in tackling ride-hailing fraud.

GPS faking, phantom bookings, and gaming of incentives are among the fraudulent schemes that have plagued Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing industry of late.

Fraud is especially prevalent in Indonesia. A recent study by Spire Consulting found that as much as 5 percent of ride requests made via the Grab app in the country are fraudulent. However, Grab told Tech in Asia it has got that figure down to under 1 percent.

Spire also reported that for Grab’s archrival Go-Jek, the fraudulent hail rate is up to 30 percent. Go-Jek told Tech in Asia that it “strongly question[s]” Spire’s research, but added that its own “fake GPS” detection algorithm is 98 percent accurate by its own measure.

Wui Ngiap Foo, Grab’s head of user trust, said that the company’s defense kit can be put to work across multiple industries.

“Fraud is not unique to ride-hailing – it’s a problem that stalks the digital economy at large,” he said. “By tackling this problem together [with our partners], we can build a more robust and trusted tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia.”

Grab Defense includes the following:

• Event risk management suite, which includes risk evaluation APIs that allow businesses to perform real-time risk assessments on transactions they handle. It also has a “rules engine” that can be used to customize fraud parameters according to business model and needs as well as analytics and investigatory tools.
• Entity intelligence services, which uses insights from Grab’s own datasets to assign risk scores to individuals using a platform.
• Device and network intelligence services, which prevent the creation of fake accounts by identifying devices used by bad actors on a platform.

Grab Defense is offered through Grab Platform, the company’s open API program that allows third-party businesses to access its core tech assets and integrate their own offerings with the Grab app.

It will be made available to Grab partners in Indonesia and certain other parts of Southeast Asia during Q2 2019, before being opened to businesses in other regions by the end of the year.