Multi-Accounting Fraud: A Growing Challenge for the Gaming Industry
A weaponized version of this common fraud technique is the basis for a wide variety of fraud and abuse schemes. But gaming platforms are gaining new tools to protect themselves.
Fraudsters use multi-accounting to bypass regulations, avoid responsibility for previous actions, abuse platform controls and commit crimes. This type of fraud can also disrupt the experience for trusted customers due to the additional security measures put in place by gaming platforms.
Gaming platforms are highly susceptible to multi-accounting fraud, where bad actors exploit new-player incentives like sign-up bonuses.
Multi-accounting allows banned users with histories of cheating and abuse to rejoin platforms.
It also allows users to abuse promotions and incentives.
Security measures to prevent multi-accounting can increase sign-up friction for trusted users and may drive them to competitor platforms.
Multi-accounting can draw regulatory scrutiny, raising concerns about how platforms handle responsible gaming issues such as preventing money laundering.
Countering multi-accounting fraud requires a deeply informed and strategic approach.
Multi-accounting is a powerful tool for fraudsters.
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Multi-accounting enables bad actors to evade regulations and responsibility, abuse platform controls and commit serious crimes.
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Gambling platforms are vulnerable to exploitation because of frequent new customer sign-up bonuses and incentives.
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Digital scammers can easily create multiple accounts using fake credentials and leverage them for financial gain.
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Multi-accounting wastes marketing budget, degrades the gaming experience for legitimate players and can enable criminal money laundering.
Common forms of multi-accounting fraud and abuse.
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Bonus abuse: Fraudsters use multiple accounts to harvest sign-up bonuses, free bets and spins and other loss-leader incentives intended for new players.
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Gnoming: Multiple accounts managed by the same player can secretly collude, gaining unfair advantage and reaping the rewards.
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Arbing: Arbing uses multi-accounts to place opposing bets on multiple outcomes of the same event in order to lock in a profit.
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Chip dumping: A single user can use multiple fake accounts to stack the odds for or against another player (e.g., hold multiple seats at an online poker table)
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Smurfing: A competitive, high-ranked user sets up a second account where they can freely practice new techniques without risking their standing.
How to mitigate multi-accounting on gaming platforms:
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Identify location and device signals indicative of multi-accounting fraud by analyzing interactions against a vast network of digital identity intelligence, such as multiple accounts using the same browser or IP address
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Spot deviations in norms and associations with fraud by accessing real-time and historic intelligence on a user’s digital footprint across industries and geographies.
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Accurately verify a user’s identity by leveraging identity intelligence that encompasses physical, digital, email and behavioral insights.
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Assess the most common unique identifier – email addresses – for red flags, including disposable or temporary emails, those from unknown domains and those with random or similar usernames.
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Make risk decisions with speed and precision by leveraging AI-powered models that assess and match behavior patterns against global trends in fraud and abuse.
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions supports gaming platforms with:
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A clear, 360° view of identity that combines expert data science and advanced linking algorithms to make sense of your data and track identities as they evolve.
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Advanced LexID® and LexID® Digital linking technology and a comprehensive database of unique identities to verify users and manage customer data with precision.
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Relevant insights gleamed from multiple layers of intelligence configured to your risk appetite, including location, device, email and digital identity.
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Deep, contextual analysis linking all data points and benchmarking against a large global database of billions of historic and real-time events.
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Identify risk or trust even if you have never seen a customer before by joining a network of thousands of organizations across multiple industries sharing enriched identity and transaction intelligence.
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Mitigate challenges specific to your business by working with our experts in gaming fraud. Customized rules and optimized models that increase the precision and effectiveness of your solution.
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