What is an IP Address?

An IP Address, also known as "Internet Protocol", is a unique identifier assigned to a user browsing the internet through their Internet Service Provider (ISP). Just as we use an email address or phone number to identify a person, an IP address is linked to an individual user and can be associated with their online activity. An IP reputation check for each IP address makes it easy to identify high risk users or suspicious payments and clicks. It can be difficult for users to frequently switch an assigned IP address from their ISP, which is why internet users often use proxies, VPNs, or Tor to mask their identity.

What is IP Fraud Scores & Reputation?

IP risk scores with IPQS use intelligent scoring to identify connections that have a history of abusive behavior, usually as part of a botnet or malware network, which favor residential IP proxies. Perform an IP reputation lookup to analyze the risk for any behavior originating from that specific IP address, such as the quality of users, clicks, payments, or registrations. Quickly determine how likely an IP address is to engage in malicious behavior through an easy to read IP address fraud score. IPQS monitors hundreds of millions of user actions per day to correlate fraudulent behavior to IP addresses in every region of the world. Analyze IP reputation data points such as Recent Abuse, Abuse Velocity, Fraud Score, and Bot Status.

What is a Proxy Connection?

Proxies are used to mask the identity of a user by processing the internet connection through another server. A proxy connection is made via a proxy server, which serves as a hub through which internet requests are processed between websites and the end user. Websites receiving these requests would only see the proxy server's IP address and not the user's real IP address. Therefore, a user in another country could mask their true location details to bypass geo restrictions and remain anonymous. This type of fraud is popular among streaming services. Abusive users also utilize proxies to engage in fraudulent activity such as creating duplicate accounts, posting SPAM, or generating fraudulent transactions from different proxy IP addresses without revealing their true identity. Additional fraud prevention measures can be layered in with proxy detection tests to verify accurate user location.

What Types of Proxies Does IPQS Detect?

Incoming connections from bad actors can use a wide variety of proxy types, including legacy abuse from anonymous proxies, SOCKS, transparent proxies — in addition to VPN services, TOR exit nodes, datacenter proxies, residential IP proxies, and even mobile networks. While TOR usage, datacenters, and VPNs have noisy footprints and are suitable for IP-based bans, other types of IP connections such as mobile proxies and residential proxy providers can be more difficult to detect when analyzing the true IP address reported by the user or visitor. More sophisticated fraudsters favor using residential proxy attacks, which is why IPQS has you covered with a 99.95% accuracy rate when analyzing the proxy server IP address to detect residential proxy IPs, zombies, botnets, and similar bad proxy IPs with less detectable footprints.

What Info Can I Get From an IP Address Lookup?

Many users are surprised by how much data they can gain by performing an IP Address lookup. Accurate geolocation information may be one of the most useful data points, locating the user within 25 miles of the actual user in over 99.95% of lookup events. IP address queries can also provide more technical data points such as the Internet Service Provider (ISP), time zone, Autonomous System Number (ASN), blocklist status, hostname, connection type, device details, and the status of the IP address as a proxy connection. Real-time API calls provide IP lookup details with IP address Fraud Score and overall risk analysis to determine how likely an active user on this IP address is to engage in abusive behavior. IPQS' vast threat network provides greater hits for abusive behavior, which produces intelligent IP risk scores that identify bad users, risky payments, and bots. Easily detect proxies and malicious behavior signals.

Does Proxy Detection Work?

Proxy detection can work exceptionally well with the right service provider to uncover users hiding their identity behind an anonymized connection. The worst offenders of fraud can control millions of IP addresses at one time. This is a great challenge for proxy detection service providers that must monitor IP addresses 24/7 for newly compromised devices which could serve as a proxied connection. IPQS provides the most accurate proxy detection service in the industry, detecting mobile & desktop devices as soon as they become compromised by botnets or malware, exhibit high risk activity, or allow users to tunnel into a connection. IPQS even detects IP addresses that serve as residential proxies and private VPN servers.

What Types of Connections Do Proxies Use?

IP addresses that function as proxies or VPNs use a wide range of connection types. Residential proxy connections are the most favored since they are very difficult to identify as a high risk IP address and tend to be very costly to access. Data center IP addresses are by far the cheapest and most abundant, since they are the easiest to access. Tor connections are also a very popular source, yet they are have a very obvious footprint which makes it easy to identify Tor IP addresses. More advanced fraudsters attempting to bypass fraud prevention services will typically use a residential proxy network, which can also access connections from mobile proxies. Since most fraud prevention vendors do not have great insight into compromised connections on residential IP addresses, fraudsters attempt to exploit this vulnerability. IPQS provides accurate detection for residential proxy providers and fraudulent IPs across any proxy type.

Why Is Proxy Detection Important?

Proxy detection is important because hidden or spoofed connections are often used for fake accounts, stolen payment attempts, scraping, geo bypass, click fraud, and account takeover.

Can your Proxy Detection Tool Also Detect VPNs?

Yes, proxy checks can also identify VPNs, Tor exit nodes, datacenter connections, hosting providers, residential proxies, and other anonymizing networks.

How Accurate Is Your Proxy Detection Test?

Our proxy detection test uses real-time reputation data, fraud scoring, honeypots, blocklist data, and behavior signals to improve accuracy.

How Often Is Your Proxy Database Updated?

Proxy and threat data is updated in real time as new abuse, proxy, VPN, Tor, botnet, and risky hosting signals are found.

Proxy Detection Test | Detect Proxies With Our IP Lookup

Integrate our Proxy Detection Service with API Lookups, JavaScript, or Process Bulk CSV Lists

Customize Traffic Filtering With Tailored Risk Scoring Settings Using Our Proxy Detection API.

Learn more about proxy detection

Query Real-Time IP Lookup Data

IP lookup data can be queried via our IP geolocation API service or by using our JavaScript analysis tags to detect bad sources of traffic, bots, risky transactions, and malicious users.

Batch Reports

Advanced IP fraud scores detect sophisticated abuse to mitigate high risk behavior. Process batch reports by uploading a CSV file through the IPQS user dashboard.

Anonymous Proxy Detection API

Our anonymous IP detection API with example code is available to get IPQS proxy detection deployed on your site in just minutes.

Proxy Detection Methods Comparison

Detecting proxies, VPNs, and other anonymous connections requires more than simply checking whether an IP address appears on a blocklist. Modern fraud prevention platforms combine multiple detection techniques to identify emerging proxy infrastructure, reduce false positives, and adapt to constantly evolving anonymization services.

Each detection method has strengths and limitations. While some techniques are effective at identifying traditional datacenter proxies, others are better suited for detecting residential proxy networks, mobile proxies, or newly established VPN services. The most accurate solutions combine network intelligence, reputation analysis, behavioral signals, and machine learning to produce a comprehensive risk assessment.

Detection Method	How It Works	Strengths	Limitations
Static IP Blocklists	Matches IP addresses against known proxy databases.	Fast and simple to implement.	Requires constant updates and misses newly deployed infrastructure.
ASN & Hosting Analysis	Identifies IPs belonging to cloud providers, hosting companies, and commercial VPN operators.	Excellent for detecting datacenter proxies.	Less effective against residential and mobile proxies.
WHOIS & Infrastructure Intelligence	Analyzes ownership records, routing data, and network relationships.	Identifies commercial anonymization providers.	Infrastructure can change rapidly.
IP Reputation Analysis	Evaluates historical abuse, spam, fraud, and malicious activity associated with an IP address.	Provides valuable risk context beyond proxy status.	New IP addresses may have limited historical data.
Behavioral Analysis	Identifies suspicious traffic patterns, automation, and abnormal user behavior.	Can detect previously unseen proxy infrastructure.	Requires sufficient behavioral context.
Machine Learning	Correlates hundreds of network and behavioral signals to identify emerging threats.	Continuously adapts to new fraud techniques.	Requires large volumes of high-quality training data.
Multi-Signal Detection (IPQS)	Combines infrastructure analysis, IP reputation, behavioral intelligence, VPN detection, proxy detection, and machine learning.	Highest overall detection accuracy with fewer false positives.	No single signal is relied upon, allowing better detection of sophisticated anonymization services.

Because fraudsters constantly deploy new proxy servers, VPN endpoints, and residential proxy networks, relying on a single detection method often leaves security gaps. IPQS combines multiple independent intelligence sources to identify anonymous connections with greater accuracy, helping organizations detect evolving threats while minimizing false positives for legitimate users.

Recent Proxy Detection Tests

The following IP addresses had recent IP Reputation checks to detect proxies.

VPN vs Proxy vs Residential Proxy Detection

VPNs, proxies, and residential proxy networks all help conceal a user's true IP address, but they operate differently and present unique challenges for fraud prevention systems. Understanding the differences between these technologies can help organizations better identify suspicious traffic, reduce abuse, and improve risk assessment decisions.

IPQS analyzes network intelligence, IP reputation, infrastructure ownership, behavioral patterns, and anonymization signals to help detect VPN connections, proxy servers, residential proxies, and other anonymous IP technologies in real time.

VPN Detection

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) routes internet traffic through servers operated by a VPN provider. VPNs are commonly used to improve privacy, secure internet connections, and bypass geographic restrictions. While VPN usage is often legitimate, fraudsters frequently use VPN services to hide their location, create fake accounts, bypass bans, and evade security controls.

IPQS helps identify commercial VPN infrastructure by analyzing network ownership, hosting relationships, reputation data, and connection characteristics associated with known VPN providers. Learn more about our VPN detection tools.

Proxy Detection

Proxy servers act as intermediaries between a user and the websites they visit. Datacenter proxies are commonly used for web scraping, automation, account creation, and bot activity because they can be deployed at scale and frequently rotated.

Proxy detection helps organizations identify users attempting to conceal their identity, automate actions, bypass restrictions, or manipulate online platforms through anonymous infrastructure.

Residential Proxy Detection

Residential proxies route traffic through real devices connected to residential internet service providers. Because these IP addresses originate from legitimate consumer networks, residential proxies are often more difficult to identify than traditional datacenter proxies.

Modern fraud operations increasingly rely on residential proxy networks to mimic legitimate user behavior while creating fake accounts, conducting credential stuffing attacks, abusing promotions, and operating large-scale bot networks.

Residential proxy detection has become increasingly important as fraudsters move away from easily identifiable datacenter infrastructure and toward more sophisticated anonymization methods.

Technology	IP Source	Encryption	Detection Difficulty	Common Abuse
VPN	Commercial VPN providers	Yes	Moderate	Fraud, ban evasion, fake accounts
Datacenter Proxy	Hosting providers	Usually No	Moderate	Scraping, bots, automation
Residential Proxy	Real residential ISP devices	Varies	High	Account farming, fraud, bot abuse
TOR Network	Volunteer relay nodes	Yes	Low	Anonymous browsing, abuse concealment

Why Anonymous IP Detection Matters

Detecting VPNs, proxies, residential proxies, and TOR connections helps businesses identify high-risk users before fraud occurs. Organizations commonly use anonymous IP detection to prevent fake account creation, reduce bot activity, stop account takeovers, limit promotion abuse, and improve trust in user activity.

For the most accurate risk assessment, proxy detection should be combined with additional intelligence signals such as IP reputation analysis, device fingerprinting, bot detection, and fake account detection.

How IPQS Identifies Proxies, VPNs & Anonymous Connections

Proxy servers, VPN services, residential proxy networks, and TOR connections are commonly used to conceal a user's true IP address and location. While many anonymization technologies have legitimate privacy and security uses, they are also frequently abused for fraud, fake account creation, bot activity, scraping, account takeovers, click fraud, and other forms of online abuse.

IPQS helps businesses identify anonymous connections by analyzing multiple layers of network intelligence, reputation data, and risk indicators associated with an IP address. Rather than relying solely on static IP blocklists, IPQS continuously evaluates real-world activity patterns to identify emerging proxy infrastructure and high-risk anonymization services.

Network & Infrastructure Analysis

Every IP address belongs to a network operated by an internet service provider, hosting company, cloud platform, or telecommunications provider. IPQS evaluates network characteristics associated with:

Datacenter proxy providers
VPN services
Residential proxy networks
Mobile proxy services
Hosting providers
TOR exit nodes
Anonymization infrastructure

This analysis helps identify connections that may be masking a user's true location or identity.

IP Reputation & Abuse Intelligence

IPQS continuously monitors global abuse signals associated with IP addresses and networks. Our systems analyze indicators linked to:

Spam activity
Automated bot traffic
Fake account registrations
Credential stuffing attacks
Account takeover attempts
Abusive automation
Suspicious signup behavior
Known fraud patterns

Users can also perform a free IP Reputation Check to review reputation indicators and fraud risk associated with a specific IP address.

VPN, Proxy & TOR Detection

Different anonymization technologies leave different network fingerprints. IPQS evaluates signals associated with:

Commercial VPN providers
Anonymous proxy services
Residential proxy networks
Mobile proxies
TOR exit nodes
Cloud-hosted proxy infrastructure

These systems help identify users attempting to hide their location, bypass geographic restrictions, automate account creation, or evade fraud prevention controls.

For dedicated VPN analysis, users can also run a VPN Detection Test to determine whether an IP address is associated with a known VPN service.

Behavioral Risk Analysis

Network intelligence alone does not always provide enough context to accurately assess risk. IPQS also evaluates behavioral indicators associated with suspicious activity.

Our systems analyze patterns linked to:

Abnormal traffic behavior
Rapid account creation
Automated registrations
Bot activity
Repeated abuse events
Suspicious transaction activity
Coordinated fraud campaigns

Machine learning models help identify behavior that differs from legitimate user activity, improving detection accuracy while reducing false positives.

Why Proxy Detection Matters

Organizations use proxy and VPN detection to help protect against a wide range of threats, including:

Fake account creation
Bot signups
Account takeovers
Click fraud
Payment fraud
Scraping activity
Promotion abuse
Geographic restriction bypass attempts

Proxy detection is often most effective when combined with additional fraud prevention signals such as IP fraud scores, device fingerprinting, email intelligence, phone verification, and behavioral analysis.

By combining multiple layers of intelligence, IPQS helps businesses identify anonymous connections and assess potential risk before abuse impacts their platform.

Enterprise IP Scoring

Looking for a high volume solution for IP scoring? Access real-time malicious IP address blacklists or deploy our on-premise proxy detection database to verify legitimate users.

Or message us directly at support@ipqualityscore.com.

Proxy Detection Test

Search Accurate IP Details — Check Proxy, VPN, or TOR Activity With Anonymous Proxy & VPN Detection.

Lookup IP scores for any IPv4 or IPv6 address. Detect high risk IP addresses and check IP fraud scores with accurate results worldwide.