iGaming Operators Suffer On Black Friday
Tia Winter | 7 December 2017
Black Friday is a notoriously chaotic yet profitable time for retailers, and for online casinos it is seemingly no different. Research firm Jumio has recently revealed that the online gambling industry suffered its highest ever levels of fraud between this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales compared to all other retail and service sectors.
It is interesting to note that overall fraud attempts during the period fell by 4% this year, but unfortunately, this was not the case for the gambling industry, which experienced its highest-ever levels. Jumio has reported that fraud was a whopping 67% higher than the daily average for the rest of the year in Europe alone.
Overall, iGaming fraud has now hiked 60% since 2014, according to the research firm’s report. Numerous other sectors, on the other hand, saw a 25% year on year drop in detectable fraud cases during the weekend of sales, including the retail, travel financial services, and insurance industries.
Jumio Warns Firms To Be Vigilant
The jam-packed weekend of retail opportunities took place this year from November 24-27, and has become a yearly hallmark for the Thanksgiving season. Thousands of stores, retailers and service providers slash their prices each year in an attempt to sell of stock and attract new customers before Christmas, and shoppers spend millions each year during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush.
It was just before the sales began that Jumio issued a warning to iGaming operators to be vigilant regarding the high risk of fraud over the period. Jumio’s Head of Gaming, Anies Khan, noted that while her company noted an overall reduction in fraud over the sale weekend, online gambling suffered significant increases in fraudulent activity, particularly during the account registration process.
Stricter ID Verification Needed
The expert noted that iGaming operators are often unwilling to add additional barriers to the player onboarding process, as they wish to create a smooth user experience. However, 2017’s data shows that perhaps this approach should be rethought, as it is currently leaving operators open to the attacks of fraudsters.
Khan noted that operators should consider using more effective identity verification services that still permit seamless user experiences, but also deter fraud and keep themselves and their websites free of fraud.
Jumio has compared fraud patterns from 2014 to date for online ID verification, finding that multi-layered ID systems like biometric facial recognition seem to be effective in reducing fraud rates across numerous industries.
Source links: http://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/gambling-tops-fraud-attempts-list-black-friday