IPScanner Blog
Practical guides on detecting VPNs, proxies, Tor exit nodes and bots from an IP — plus IP reputation, fraud scoring and how to wire it all up with our API.
FBI Warns Residential Proxies Are Powering Credential-Stuffing Attacks
The FBI and new research flag residential proxies as the engine behind large-scale credential stuffing in 2026. Here's how the attack works and how to detect it by IP.
Read articleAttackers Don't Break In, They Log In: The 2026 Identity-Threat Shift
In 2026, most major incidents start with a valid login, not a software flaw. Here's why identity is the new perimeter — and how IP intelligence helps defend it.
Read articleVPN vs Proxy: What's the Difference (and Why It Matters for Fraud)
VPNs and proxies both hide a user's real IP, but they work differently and carry different risk. Here's how to tell them apart and why it matters for detection.
Read articleWhat Is a Residential Proxy? (And How to Detect One)
Residential proxies route traffic through real home IPs, making bots look like ordinary users. Here's how they work, why they're risky, and how to detect them.
Read articleHow Does VPN Detection Work? The Signals Behind the Verdict
VPN detection isn't a single blocklist. Learn the signals — provider ranges, hosting analysis, reputation and protocol hints — that combine into a reliable verdict.
Read articleHow to Detect Bots by IP Address
Bots hide behind proxies, VPNs and hosting IPs. Learn the IP-based signals that expose automated traffic and how to score requests before they cause damage.
Read articleWhat Is IP Reputation and Why It Matters
IP reputation summarises how trustworthy an IP is, based on what it is and how it has behaved. Learn what feeds it and how to use it in fraud and security decisions.
Read articleHow to Block VPN Users on Your Website (the Smart Way)
Blocking every VPN user frustrates real customers. Here's how to detect VPN traffic, decide when to block vs. challenge, and implement it without false positives.
Read articleWhat Is an IP Fraud Score and How Do You Use It?
An IP fraud score condenses VPN, proxy, Tor, hosting and abuse signals into one 0–100 number. Learn how it's built, what thresholds to use, and how to act on it.
Read articleHow to Detect a VPN in Node.js (Step-by-Step)
A practical Node.js tutorial: call a VPN detection API from your backend, read the verdict and confidence score, and gate signups or logins on the result.
Read articleWhat Is a Datacenter Proxy? (And How to Detect One)
Datacenter proxies run on cloud and hosting servers, making them the most common source of automated traffic. Here's how they work and how to detect them by IP.
Read articleWhat Is an Anonymous Proxy? Levels, Risks and Detection
An anonymous proxy hides a user's real IP. Learn the anonymity levels (transparent, anonymous, elite), why they matter for fraud, and how to detect them.
Read articleWhat Is a Tor Exit Node? (And Should You Block It?)
A Tor exit node is the last relay before traffic reaches your site — fully anonymising the origin. Here's how Tor works, the risks, and how to detect exit nodes.
Read articleResidential vs Datacenter Proxies: Differences and Detection
Residential and datacenter proxies hide traffic in very different ways. Learn how they differ in cost, speed and detectability — and how to catch each one.
Read articleHow to Detect Proxy Servers (HTTP, SOCKS and Beyond)
A practical guide to detecting proxy servers by IP — open proxies, SOCKS, residential and datacenter pools, and Tor — and turning the result into a decision.
Read articleHow to Detect Tor Traffic on Your Site
Tor fully anonymises a visitor's origin. Learn how to detect Tor traffic by correlating against the live exit list, and how to respond without blocking legitimate users.
Read articleWhat Is IP Geolocation and How Accurate Is It?
IP geolocation maps an IP to a location. Learn how it works, how accurate it really is at country vs. city level, and why VPNs and proxies break it.
Read articleWhat Is an ASN and Why It Matters for Fraud Detection
An ASN identifies the network that owns an IP range. Learn what ASNs are, how to look them up, and why they're one of the strongest signals in fraud detection.
Read articleHow to Prevent Fake Account Signups
Fake signups fuel spam, fraud and trial abuse. Learn how to stop them with IP intelligence — VPN, proxy and reputation signals — without hurting real users.
Read articleHow to Stop Bonus Abuse and Multi-Accounting
Bonus abuse and multi-accounting drain promo budgets. Learn how abusers use proxies and VPNs to fake unique users, and how to detect and stop them by IP.
Read articleHow to Prevent Account Takeover with IP Intelligence
Account takeover starts with a login from the wrong place. Learn how IP intelligence — anonymiser and reputation signals — powers risk-based defenses against ATO.
Read articleHow to Detect and Block Web Scrapers
Scrapers steal content, prices and data at scale, usually behind proxies. Learn how to detect scraping by IP and behaviour, and how to block it without harming SEO.
Read articleHow to Verify a User's Real Location (Past VPNs and Proxies)
IP geolocation is easy to fake with a VPN or proxy. Learn how to verify a user's real location by combining geolocation with anonymiser detection.
Read articleHow to Reduce Payment Fraud with IP Checks
Payment fraud often hides behind anonymised IPs. Learn which IP signals predict chargebacks and fraud, and how to score checkouts without adding friction for good customers.
Read articleHow to Detect VPN in Your Signup Flow
Catch VPN signups before they become abuse. A practical guide to adding VPN detection to your registration flow with the right thresholds and user experience.
Read articleThe Best Signals for Bot Detection (Ranked)
Not all bot-detection signals are equal. Here are the most useful IP, network and behavioural signals — ranked by reliability — for catching automated traffic.
Read articleHow to Build an IP Risk Score
Combine VPN, proxy, Tor, hosting and reputation signals into one IP risk score. A practical guide to weighting signals, setting thresholds and tuning over time.
Read articleHow to Detect Proxies in Python (Step-by-Step)
A Python tutorial: call a proxy detection API, read the proxy type and confidence score, and gate requests — with a reusable function, caching and a Flask example.
Read articleHow to Geo-Restrict Content and Stop VPN Bypass
Geo-restrictions are only as good as your VPN detection. Learn how to enforce regional access and close the VPN and proxy loopholes users exploit to bypass them.
Read articleWhy Free IP Blocklists Aren't Enough
Free IP blocklists are tempting but go stale fast and miss residential proxies. Learn their limits and why real-time, scored IP intelligence outperforms them.
Read articleHow to Detect Cloud and Hosting IPs
Cloud and hosting IPs are where most bots and proxies live. Learn how to detect AWS, GCP, Azure and hosting-provider IPs by ASN and use the signal in fraud rules.
Read articleHow to Choose a VPN Detection API (Buyer's Guide)
Not all VPN detection APIs are equal. Learn the criteria that matter — accuracy, residential-proxy coverage, freshness, scoring, speed and pricing — before you commit.
Read article