Gaming Eminence grabs some key points from Jeff Wixted VP, Marketing & Client Solutions of Accertify around balancing security with experience and where to spot potential circumstances of fraud happening.
GE) There is a fine balancing act that iGaming operators need to take in ensuring a frictionless experience vs maintaining player security. What approach would you recommend they consider to maintain a competitive edge?
JW) It is important to take a layered approach to fraud prevention and detection. By using tools like device intelligence, user behaviour analytics, and behavioural biometrics, for example, you can gain valuable insights into who is truly on the other end of an event. This can ensure fraudulent account access or account creation is blocked, while allowing for a seamless experience for your best customers.
GE) Account takeover via breached credentials and personal data is becoming more of an issue due to increased sophistication of criminals. How should iGaming operators approach customer account protection and what are signs they should look out for that an account has been compromised?
JW) The most important thing is to make sure you have the proper tools in place to protect the entire player journey. From fraud, to device, to behavioural analytics, you need a platform that can manage all of this information for you.
When an account takeover attack takes place, there will be new devices accessing accounts that you have not seen in the past. There will be different behavioural patterns, such as logins from unusual locations or odd hours of access based on the valid customer’s location. There will likely be two main fraud tactics at play: A massive amount of traffic trying different credentials; and immediate attempts to monetise the accounts they were successfully able to access. By finding a solution that can help gather location information, connection details, device intelligence, and behaviour analytics for each login attempt, you can help ensure only the valid account owners can access their accounts.
GE) The speed of marketing technology and infrastructure is continuing to provide iGaming operators faster access to more users in multiple regions quicker than ever before. A typical strategy to gain market share is leveraging free credit promotions as an industry standard. What are examples that you have seen where promotional abuse has occurred and how can operators best reduce this risk when approaching this method?
JW) Many operators are offering promotions to encourage new players to sign up for their services. Fraudsters saw this opportunity and worked to quickly exploit it, creating bots that open multiple accounts per second. The losses for operators quickly became problematic. It is critical to have a solution that can detect when one device or a string of devices are creating multiple accounts in short order and block those attempts without creating friction for new players.
GE) What are examples that you have seen where promotional abuse has occurred and how can operators best reduce this risk when approaching this method?
JW) A good example of this was when New York first legalised online sports betting. Generous sign-up bonuses and deposit matching were effective at driving acquisitions, but fraudsters also saw their opportunity. Once users redeemed the sign-up promotion, they stopped betting and operators saw a reduction in active users. In some cases, players using multiple identities created accounts, claimed the promos, won or lost their bet, and then disappeared.
In the end, it is important to find ways to incentivise the good players while also protecting against fraudsters and promotional abuse. With the right platform, operators can reduce multi-accounting while providing well-prepared operators with the opportunity to attract the best players.
GE) With the growth of non-traditional markets such as the U.S., Canada, Asia pacific and even Middle East and Africa. What dynamic fraud challenges would an iGaming operator be presented with across these regions?
JW) Each market has different requirements related to compliance and player experience. This creates various types of opportunities for fraud to occur in both identity, location, device, and financial transactions. Dynamic tools that use machine learning to update risk assessments in real-time can predict potential fraud before it happens, allowing online gaming platforms to focus on sustainable growth rather than chasing fraud.
About our contributor
Jeff is responsible for leading the company’s global branding, positioning, communication, pre-sales and lead generation. Prior to his current role, Jeff led Product Management and helped build and diversify Accertify’s Interceptas platform to address risk across the entire customer journey. Jeff has over 12 years experience in card-not-present fraud and has spoken at many industry forums and conferences around the world. Jeff also served on the global board of directors for the Merchant Risk Council for 6 years. Before joining Accertify, Jeff led many startup organizations in the enterprise software space through periods of hyper-growth and change, and is skilled at building relationships with technical individuals as well as with C-level executives. Jeff earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida. https://www.accertify.com/