Inquiring Gamers: What deceptive gaming practices are becoming increasingly prevalent?
In the dynamic world of online gaming, operators strive to provide fun, exciting, and innovative experiences while adhering to strict licensing rules and ensuring genuine customer satisfaction. However, they face a growing threat from fraud schemes, with bonus abuse emerging as a major issue.
Bonus abuse, where players exploit sign-up bonuses, free bets, or deposit matches, has become a significant concern. By creating multiple accounts or using fake/stolen identities, these players drain marketing budgets, reduce profitability, and create unfair playing conditions. To combat this, casinos have implemented strict ID verification, IP tracking, and limits on bonuses per person, household, or device. However, the evolving mobile gambling landscape and a large variety of devices make detection more complex, requiring sophisticated algorithms and machine learning models to identify abuse patterns.
Another common fraud scheme is chip dumping, particularly in online poker. This involves collusion between multiple accounts, often controlled by the same person, to transfer chips unfairly. It’s used to launder money, transfer stolen funds, or exploit bonuses. Casinos monitor for suspicious behaviours and collusion to mitigate this risk.
Account fraud and compromised accounts are also emerging concerns, linked to chargebacks, bonus abuse, player attrition, and regulatory complications. Specialized solutions like Firesand Shield are developed to tackle account fraud and related challenges within iGaming.
The rise of mobile gambling has expanded the attack surface for fraud. Increased volume and diversity of transactions and devices require continuous updates to fraud detection systems, making collaboration between operators and regulators crucial to keep pace with new abuse tactics.
Illegal and unregulated gambling platforms are surging, especially in the U.S., with illegal iGaming revenue growing rapidly. This undermines regulation and consumer protection, often facilitating fraud and unfair practices, such as unmonitored bonus abuse or money laundering activities.
In summary, iGaming operators face a complex fraud landscape driven by bonus abuse, collusion, account fraud, and an increasing share of illegal/unregulated play, all exacerbated by the boom in mobile gambling. They are investing heavily in advanced detection technologies and stricter verification protocols to mitigate these evolving threats.
Bonus abusers, however, are not resting. They use tried and tested betting systems to minimize their losses and maximize their bonuses while meeting minimum wagering requirements. The ever-evolving professional bonus abuser's sole mission is to fleece the operator for as much as they can, as quickly and as regularly as possible. Casinos often offer increasingly appealing bonuses to attract players, which in turn attract bonus abusers.
This arms race between operators and professional bonus abusers is likely to continue, with both sides constantly evolving their strategies. As the iGaming industry continues to grow, so too will the need for robust fraud detection and prevention measures.
[1] Fraud Prevention in the iGaming Industry: Challenges and Solutions. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.jws.com/insights/fraud-prevention-igaming-industry-challenges-solutions
[2] The State of Online Gambling Fraud in 2024. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.fraudmagazine.com/article/the-state-of-online-gambling-fraud-in-2024
[3] The Growing Threat of Illegal iGaming in the U.S. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckmorrison/2022/02/28/the-growing-threat-of-illegal-igaming-in-the-u-s/?sh=5657c8653d1c
[4] Firesand Shield: A Solution for Account Fraud in iGaming. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.firesand.com/solutions/shield/
- The iGaming industry, with its focus on technology and fintech, is increasingly embracing cybersecurity measures to combat the growing threats of fraud, such as bonus abuse and account fraud.
- In the future, as mobile gambling continues to grow and the landscape of online gaming becomes more complex, the need for advanced finance and technology solutions in fraud prevention will become even more crucial for maintaining a secure and fair gaming environment.
