Online gambling is a thrilling pastime for many, but due to its nature, it tends to attract bad actors. Given that it’s a massive industry with lots of money moving around, scammers of all kinds love to prey on unsuspecting gamblers. Fortunately, respectable online casinos have developed plenty of means to deal with fraud and cheating. When players are certain that they won’t be scammed or tricked it’s good for business and creates a solid reputation for the platform. Here is how online gambling websites keep their users safe.
How Casinos Detect Foul Play
The first step to prevent and counteract fraud is to spot it in time. The most common type of fraud is abusing the bonuses offered by casinos. A scammer would sign up from multiple burner accounts claiming the same bonus over and over again. Naturally, casinos monitor all bonus code registrations and note which ones are used repeatedly over a short time. Another type of cheating is collusion, where several players conspire to lose to one of the conspirator players during card games and set up wins. That way they multiply the initial investment by seemingly legitimate means. Suspiciously high win rates are a common indicator of such cheating. It’s a particularly insidious method as technically it’s not against the rules and casinos need to verify the conspiracy, as they could just be good luck streaks.
Account theft is unfortunately common occurrence in online casinos. Many players can be caught off-guard by phishing emails and messages designed to steal account information. It is harmful to gamblers, but casinos suffer as well. Stolen accounts can be used not just to steal player’s winnings or bank accounts, but also to launder money.
Fortunately, with advancements in AI technology, casinos don’t need to have a lot of dedicated staff to comb through thousands of transactions and account activities. Artificial intelligence algorithms can be trained to spot patterns that correlate to common fraud types and issue automatic responses. Suspicious accounts are flagged and investigated.
Commonly Used Preventative Measures
The first line of online casino defence against fraud is licensing. Regulations force a strict set of rules that protect both websites and players from malicious activity and abuse. Constant monitoring and frequent audits minimize the risks and dissuade most scammers from even attempting to cheat the players or systems. Reputable casinos pride themselves on being regulation-compliant and wear that badge with pride, letting players know that they can enjoy safe gambling.
The second preventative measure is the layered identity verification procedure. Know Your Customer has been a golden standard for online security for years, and online casinos benefit from it too. Two-factor authentication prevents almost all account theft since users have to verify their identity through various means, including facial recognition and biometrics. This completely rules out bad actors getting access to the account by accident or even successful phishing. The aforementioned AI algorithms speed up the process by quickly processing the data and confirming the user’s identity within seconds.
Dealing With Fraud and Cheating
After the online casino detects and identifies malicious activity, there are a few ways they can handle it, depending on the type of fraud. In case of a suspected account takeover, the usual procedure is to immediately freeze the account and contact the listed owner. If the account was used for money laundering, the casino contacts the payment processor when possible and resolves the issue quickly.
If the player recovers the account but notices that some or all funds are missing, they may request a chargeback. Another possible reason for the loss of funds is a system glitch which may cause double billing or failure to receive the money after they were deposited or withdrawn. Regardless, the player must provide the receipts of the transaction, otherwise the request is automatically denied and the suspected scammer may even be banned on repeated attempts. This is why it’s important to maintain communication with the casino’s customer service during any dispute, as miscommunication can lead to a number of issues. Thankfully, online gambling platforms constantly improve their fraud detection tools, and the risk of being falsely identified as a scammer is almost zero. Players should consult customer service and follow the steps to make the process as quick and efficient as possible. It’s best to settle the issue with the casino first rather than with the payment processor or bank. Banks have their own procedures around chargebacks so it’s best to not let them and casinos interfere with one another.
