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Definition
Velocity checks are fraud prevention rules that track the speed or frequency of an action. They can monitor events such as login attempts, password resets, transactions, account creations, or failed verification attempts over a set time window.

Why it matters
Velocity checks matter because many attacks happen in rapid bursts. Detecting too many attempts too quickly can help stop credential stuffing, bot abuse, payment fraud, fake account creation, and repeated identity verification failures.

Example use case
A system sees 20 failed login attempts on one account within two minutes. A velocity check flags the activity as suspicious and temporarily blocks further attempts or requires extra verification.