Bonus abuse the number one fraud in iGaming in 2019, report finds

The iovation’s 2020 iGaming Report has revealed that bonus abuse was the number one reported fraud by iovation’s iGaming customers for the third year in a row, rising 72% from 2018 to 2019.

Gambling bonuses often include giving a new player house money to gamble or existing customers incentives to play more. Bonus abusers then use multiple accounts with different email addresses in order to claim the same bonus sometimes hundreds of times, which is often against gambling operators’ terms.

Another key trend in the report was the rise in self-exclusion. iovation received over 363,000 reports of player self-exclusion in 2019, a 63% increase from 2018. The operator is now legally obligated to ensure the player does not resume gambling activities. In many instances a self-excluded gambler tries to set up a new account, many times with the information of another family member, when they have a change of heart. Or fraudsters set up a new account using a stolen credit card, deposit funds using that card and then self-exclude before the chargeback – a forced transaction reversal initiated by the cardholder’s bank. 

Other key findings in the report show that credit card fraud continues to climb. iovation iGaming customers reported a 37% growth in credit card fraud from 2018 to 2019. While operators look to stop credit card fraud, consumers expect reduced transaction reviews and unnecessary step-up authentication with their credit card transactions. 

Moreover, the report shows a significant majority of transactions go mobile. 79% of all iGaming transactions came from mobile phones and tablets in 2019, an increase of 13% over 2018.