Ask Sumsubers: Which fraudulent schemes in gaming are on the rise?

In the dynamic, rapidly evolving, and highly competitive world of iGaming, the lure of quick profits is eternally enticing to opportunists, fraudsters, and extortionists. In fact, the rate of online gaming fraud nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024, in a year that cost online operators around $6.8B.

The usual suspects of fraud schemes are ever present, affiliate fraud, credit card and chargeback fraud, account take-overs, betting systems, collusion, and of course bonus abuse. The latter which to this day overshadows all the others, taking responsibility for just under 70% of losses suffered by operators globally.

We could discuss the rise of self-exclusion fraud as more and more regions regulate online gaming, or the financial scams and money laundering dangers associated with the rise of player versus player (PvP) games. We could even discuss the exploits relating to next-generation games like Plinko and Dice… or insider information threats associated with eSport betting, but they would ultimately pale into insignificance compared to the behemoth of bonus abuse.

With markets becoming more saturated, casinos find themselves offering increasingly appealing bonuses to lure in players, which in turn attracts a range of bonus abusers, who are primed and ready to cash in with tried and tested betting systems to minimize their losses and maximize their bonuses. All this while meeting minimum wagering requirements. And that’s without taking into consideration the additional propulsion generated by AI which allows users to create more enhanced bots, build synthetic identities for multi-accounting, and hit more of the operator’s bonuses.

It’s an arms race between the operator, whose primary objective is to provide fun, exciting, and innovative games, often while adhering to strict licensing rules while ensuring genuine customer satisfaction; and the ever-evolving professional bonus abuser whose sole mission is to fleece the operator for as much as they can, as quickly and as regularly as possible.

Kris Galloway

Head of iGaming Product