ID fraud & risk signals
Go beyond traditional KYC with fraud screening on device and carrier service data points using custom risk scoring. Stay ahead of fraudsters and scammers using ported, synthetic, and stolen phone numbers or email accounts.
Why Data Zoo
Real-time intelligence to combat fraud
Data Zoo's risk signals provide comprehensive fraud detection across phone, email, and location intelligence to identify suspicious activity before it impacts your business.
60+
Countries
Mobile network operator coverage for phone checks
1,000+
Dark Web Sources
Criminal sites and forums monitored
<100ms
Response Time
Real-time risk signal checks
Phone Intelligence
Check mobile numbers against mobile network operators across 60+ countries in real time. Our phone intelligence identifies the original and current network operator, detects porting events and SIM swap activities in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Canada, and provides comprehensive service type analysis with advanced risk scoring to flag suspicious phone number behavior and status anomalies.
Email Intelligence
Check email addresses and domains against 1,000+ criminal sites and forums on the Dark Web. Our email intelligence tracks when addresses were first seen and their activity scores over the past 6 months, monitors Dark Web popularity and exposure, analyzes domain registration and activity patterns, and provides detailed email risk scoring to identify compromised or fraudulent accounts.
Location Intelligence
Determine precise IP address geolocation and registered internet service provider details. Our location intelligence identifies the registering organization and IP routing type, provides detailed geographic data including country, city, state, and zip code, and delivers precise latitude and longitude coordinates to verify user location authenticity and detect suspicious access patterns.
Watchlist Screening
Screen individuals against global watchlists, including Politically Exposed Person (PEP), sanctions, relatives and close associates, and adverse media. Data Zoo uses data from 30,000+ reputable sources across 45+ languages, including non-Latin scripts. Configure matching logic to align with your risk and compliance requirements.
Defend against new threats
Learn how to detect and defend against Synthetic Identity Fraud, the fastest growing financial crime in the United States, with estimated damages between $20 billion and $40 billion annually.
Synthetic Identity Fraud Guide
Essential strategies for detecting synthetic identities with modern identity proofing techniques.
$20-40B
Annual estimated damages in the United States
Download our comprehensive guide to learn how to protect your business from this growing threat.
Privacy-first by design
Data Zoo adheres to strictly transparent standards to safeguard your customers and enhance security. Our commitment to privacy and data security is a non-negotiable part of everything we do.
Ready to strengthen your fraud detection?
Talk to our experts today about protecting your business with advanced risk signals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Standard identity checks can be insufficient for stopping fraud because they confirm that a document or set of details is genuine, but they don't confirm whether the person presenting them obtained that identity honestly. Fraudsters using AI often onboard with stolen credentials, synthetic identities, and compromised phone or email accounts that pass a basic check without triggering a flag. Data Zoo helps you to close that gap with four risk signal types — Phone Intelligence, Email Intelligence, Location Intelligence, and Watchlist Screening — that screen for the underlying data points and patterns.
Stolen credentials, synthetic identities, SIM-swapped or disposable phone numbers, compromised email accounts, and geolocation mismatches can all pass a standard identity check undetected. Data Zoo's layered risk signals expose the evidence these tactics leave behind — an unverifiable phone history, a dark-web-linked email, or an IP address that doesn't match the claimed geolocation — that a document-only check would miss.
Phone number verification checks whether a number is real, active, and consistent with its claimed history, flagging risk when it isn't. Data Zoo checks phone numbers against mobile network operators across 60+ countries in real time, confirming phone type (mobile, landline, or VoIP), activity status, porting history, port fraud risk, and current and origin network.
SIM swap detection identifies recently ported or swapped SIM cards in real time, catching account takeover attempts before they succeed. Data Zoo's SIM swap detection, including porting history and port fraud risk, is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Canada.
Email risk scoring evaluates how trustworthy an address is based on its history and activity, not just whether it's correctly formatted. Data Zoo's Email Intelligence screens an email address and domain against 1,000+ criminal sites and forums across the dark web, tracks when the address was first seen, and monitors its activity over the past six months, helping clients produce a confident risk assessment.
Sanctions and PEP screening checks whether an individual appears on government sanctions lists, is a politically exposed person, or is flagged in adverse media. These are screenings a standard identity check doesn't run. Data Zoo screens across 30,000+ sources in 45+ languages, including non-Latin scripts, with configurable matching logic you can align to your risk and compliance requirements.
Standard KYC confirms an identity document is genuine; Data Zoo's risk signals add phone, email, location, and watchlist intelligence that gives organizations more confidence they're dealing with a real person. Fraud teams use these signals to assess patterns and commonalities across applicants, then define rules that block, flag, or route cases to further review. In effect, risk signals enable teams to strengthen onboarding decisions and risk management workflows with more informed, data-backed logic.
No, Data Zoo's risk signals are designed to layer onto whatever verification stack a client already has, not replace it. Data Zoo clients can add them as a pre-screening step before KYC runs, configure their own risk thresholds, flag suspicious signals for periodic review, and apply real-time monitoring throughout the customer lifecycle. They also pair with Data Zoo's own identity verification API for teams that want identity data and risk signals from one provider.
Data Zoo returns risk signal results in under 100ms across nearly 200 countries. Phone, email, location, and watchlist checks all run in real time at onboarding, anywhere a client operates, without adding friction for legitimate applicants.
No, risk signal screening is not just for banks; it’s used by a variety of organizations, including fintechs, payment companies, digital enterprises, and the orchestration or IDV platforms that serve them. Data Zoo's direct clients typically build their own decisioning logic and use risk signals to pre-screen high-risk applicants, while orchestration partners use them to fill fraud-detection gaps in their existing stack.