> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.prelude.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fraud Protection Settings

> Tune Prelude's anti-fraud protection per country from the dashboard — set a region's risk level and toggle detection rules.

Prelude runs [anti-fraud](/verify/v2/documentation/prevent-fraud) automatically on every verification. **Fraud Protection Settings** let you tune how strict that protection is for each country or region, directly from the [Dashboard](https://app.prelude.so) — no code changes required.

<Info>
  These settings adjust the automatic machine-learning system; they do not replace it. Prelude keeps screening every verification regardless of how a region is configured.
</Info>

## Where to find it

In the [Dashboard](https://app.prelude.so), open **Verify** and go to the phone verification **Activity** or **Analytics** view. In the toolbar:

1. Use the **region selector** to choose the country you want to configure.
2. Click **Risk Level** to open the Fraud Protection panel.

Every setting in the panel applies to the **selected region only**, so you can tune each country independently.

## Region risk level

Each region has a risk level — **Low**, **Medium**, or **High** — that controls how aggressively Prelude screens verifications sent to phone numbers in that country.

| Level      | Behavior                                                                           |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Low**    | Lightest screening. Default for regions with little history of verification fraud. |
| **Medium** | Additional checks for regions that show moderate fraud activity.                   |
| **High**   | Strictest screening, for regions with a strong history of SMS-pumping fraud.       |

Prelude assigns a **default** risk level to every region based on the fraud patterns we observe across our network. The panel shows the current default and lets you **override** it:

* **Raise** the level for a region where you are seeing abuse that is getting through.
* **Lower** the level if you believe legitimate traffic is being caught.

A higher level catches more fraud but may add friction for a small share of genuine users; a lower level is more permissive. When your selection differs from Prelude's default, the panel explains why that default was chosen.

<Note>
  A region's default risk level reflects Prelude's live view of fraud for that country and can change over time as attack patterns shift. Overriding it pins the region to your chosen level until you select **Restore Defaults**.
</Note>

## Detection rules

Below the risk level, you can enable or disable individual detection rules for the selected region.

### VPN & Proxy

Flags verifications that arrive over connections designed to hide the user's true network — commercial VPNs, hosting and datacenter IP ranges, and anonymizing proxies — which are commonly used to disguise fraudulent traffic.

### Location Discrepancy

Compares the location inferred from the end-user's IP address with the country of the phone number being verified. A persistent mismatch — for example, a high volume of requests to one country's numbers all originating from IP addresses in another country — is a strong indicator of SMS-pumping or SIM-farm abuse.

This is the same signal surfaced as the `location_discrepancy` [risk factor](/verify/v2/api-reference/create-or-retry-a-verification) on blocked verifications.

<Tip>
  Location Discrepancy is most effective for regions where you expect a user and their phone number to be in the same country. If you legitimately verify travelers or users on foreign numbers in a given region, keep this in mind before enabling it there.
</Tip>

## Saving and restoring

Use **Save Changes** to apply your configuration to the selected region. Your overrides take effect immediately on new verifications and remain in place until you change them again.

Select **Restore Defaults** at any time to discard your overrides for that region and return it to Prelude's recommended risk level and detection rules.

<Info>
  Looking for other fraud controls? See [Prevent Fraud](/verify/v2/documentation/prevent-fraud) for the signals to send, `is_trusted_user` bypass, challenge-mode routing, and allow / block lists.
</Info>