Systems and methods for authenticating online users

A computer-implemented method for authenticating an unauthenticated data transmission, the method implemented using an authentication platform including a directory server communicatively coupled to i) a source computing device, ii) an access control server (ACS), and iii) an issuer computing device, a routing engine communicatively coupled to the directory server, wherein the directory server and the routing engine are implemented using at least one processor, and at least one memory device communicatively coupled to the directory server and the routing engine, the method comprising:

• training a machine learning model on historical authentication data to configure the machine learning model to identify anomalous authentication data included within data transmissions;
• receiving, and storing in the memory device, a plurality of message routing rules;
• receiving, from the source computing device, an authentication request message associated with an unauthenticated data transmission, the authentication request message including authentication data;
• applying the trained machine learning model to the authentication data to generate a transmission score;
• determining, from the message routing rules, whether the transmission score should be routed to the source computing device, the issuer computing device, or the ACS, wherein the message routing rules include i) a first set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the authentication request message source computing device, ii) a second set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the issuer computing device, and iii) a third set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the ACS;
• generating an authentication response message including the transmission score;
• and
• routing, via the computer network, the authentication response message to the source computing device, the issuer computing device, or the ACS, wherein, when routing the authentication response message to the source computing device, the at least one processor appends a denial data element to the authentication response message such that the authentication response message overrides further processing of the unauthenticated data transmission.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for authenticating an unauthenticated data transmission, wherein when executed by at least one processor of an authentication platform including i) a directory server communicatively coupled to a) a source computing device, b) an access control server (ACS), and c) an issuer computing device, ii) a routing engine communicatively coupled to the directory server, the directory server and the routing engine implemented using at least one processor, and iii) a memory device communicatively coupled to the directory server and the routing engine, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

• train a machine learning model on historical authentication data to configure the machine learning model to identify anomalous authentication data included within data transmissions;
• receive, and store in the memory device, a plurality of message routing rules;
• receive, from the source computing device, an authentication request message associated with an unauthenticated data transmission, the authentication request message including authentication data;
• apply the trained machine learning model to the authentication data to generate a transmission score;
• determine, from the message routing rules, whether the transmission score should be routed to the source computing device, the issuer computing device, or the ACS, wherein the message routing rules include i) a first set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the authentication request message source computing device, ii) a second set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the issuer computing device, and iii) a third set of criteria specifying when the transmission score should be routed to the ACS;
• generate an authentication response message including the transmission score;
• and
• route, via the computer network, the authentication response message to the source computing device, the issuer computing device, or the ACS, wherein, when routing the authentication response message to the source computing device, the at least one processor appends a denial data element to the authentication response message such that the authentication response message overrides further processing of the unauthenticated data transmission.