Probabilistic account linking

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• generating, by at least one of one or more servers of an online transaction platform, an average linking probability for each linking strategy from a plurality of linking strategies using account data for a plurality of accounts on an online transaction platform, each linking strategy identifying a different combination of one or more attributes for assessing whether to link pairs of accounts on the online transaction platform based on whether the pairs of accounts share an attribute value for each of the one or more attributes, wherein a first average linking probability for a first linking strategy is generated by:
• determining a linking probability for each attribute value from a plurality of attribute values for an account attribute corresponding to the first linking strategy using account cluster information identifying account clusters, wherein a same number of accounts have each attribute value from the plurality of attribute values for the account attribute corresponding to the first linking strategy, and
• generating the first average linking probability for the first linking strategy as a function for the linking probabilities for the plurality of attributes values for the account attribute corresponding to the first linking strategy;
• storing, by at least one of the one or more servers, the average linking probabilities for the plurality of linking strategies in a data store, wherein each average linking probability is stored in association with a linking strategy identifier and an indication of a number of accounts sharing a same linking strategy attribute value;
• generating, by at least one of the one or more servers, an account linking probability for two accounts on the online transaction platform using one or more of the average linking probabilities in the data store;
• and
• responsive to determining to link the two accounts based on the account linking probability for the two accounts, causing, by at least one of the one or more servers, an action to be performed on the online transaction platform, the action comprising at least one of generating and providing a notification regarding linking of the two accounts, blocking a prospective transaction, reporting a previous transaction, or closing at least one of the two accounts.

A computer system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more computer storage medium storing computer-usable instructions that, when used by the one or more processors, causes the computer system to perform operations comprising:
• generating, by at least one server of one or more servers of an online transaction platform, an account linking probability for two accounts on the online transaction platform by:
• identifying, from a plurality of linking strategies, one or more linking strategies shared by the two accounts, each linking strategy identifying a different combination of one or more attributes for assessing whether to link pairs of accounts on the online transaction platform based on whether the pairs of accounts share an attribute value for each of the one or more attributes,
• retrieving, from a data store storing an average linking probability for each linking strategy from the plurality of linking strategies, an average linking probability corresponding to each linking strategy from the one or more linking strategies shared by the two accounts based on a total number of accounts sharing each linking strategy with the two accounts, wherein the average linking probabilities for the plurality of linking strategies were generated using account cluster information for a plurality of accounts on the online transaction platform, and
• generating the account linking probability for the two accounts using the average linking probability corresponding to each linking strategy from the one or more linking strategies shared by the two accounts;
• linking the two accounts based on the account linking probability;
• and
• causing, by at least one of the one or more servers, one or more actions to be performed on the online transaction platform responsive to linking the two accounts, the one or more actions comprising at least one of generating and providing a notification regarding linking of the two accounts, blocking a prospective transaction, reporting a previous transaction, or closing at least one of the two accounts.