iovation research: bonus abuse, credit card fraud, and self-exclusion are on the rise

The report shows that bonus abuse was the number one reported fraud by iovation’s customers for the third year in a row, rising 72% from 2018 to 2019. Bonus abusers 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, as iovation received over 363,000 reports of player self-exclusion in 2019. This represents a 63% increase over 2018. Self-exclusion is when a player admits they have a gambling problem and tells an operator not to allow them to gamble; however, sometimes a self-excluded gambler tries to set up a new account, with the information of another family member, when they have a change of heart.

Other key findings show:

• Credit card fraud: iovation iGaming customers reported a 37% growth in credit card fraud from 2018 to 2019.
• Majority of transactions go mobile: 79% of all iGaming transactions came from mobile phones and tablets in 2019, an increase of 13% over 2018.