Device Reputation Pays Off Big-Time for WagerWorks
October 16th, 2009 by Max Anhoury
We’ve just posted a new case study on the iovation website based on interviews we had with Crystian Terry, the director of Casino Operations for WagerWorks—a premier provider of online game content. In our discussions with Terry, bonus abuse surfaced as the number one challenge that he and his team faced. This unique type of fraud poses a serious threat to casino sites, with the potential to cost companies millions of dollars in revenue, and yet may not be widely understood outside the industry.
So, for those who don’t know, bonuses are a simple way to encourage either new or returning players to spend time (and money) on a casino site. Restrictions and limitations apply to such bonuses, but there are always those who will attempt to take advantage of the system at the expense of the online sites. Bonus abuse, especially when committed by sophisticated and organized groups, can add up to significant losses; imagine multiplying a 20% bonus by hundreds of accounts.
As WagerWorks can attest to, it isn’t always easy to catch the players who are committing bonus abuse. Online criminals, of all types, are getting more technologically savvy, in addition to the fact that the availability of resources (like stolen credit and identity information) is increasing. So even though WagerWorks conducted comprehensive checks on their players—including asking players to fax in proof of identity—fraudsters were still getting through.
By enhancing their fraud strategy using device recognition and device reputation, WagerWorks was finally able to really tackle the problem, head on. Once iovation was implemented, WagerWorks identified and shut down 20 fraud rings, composed of nearly 300 accounts—all clearly connected and being used to abuse the bonus system. Using iovation’s fraud protection service gave Terry and his team the data points they needed to confidently identify player collusion and keep the bad players out.
To find out more, read the case study, WagerWorks Takes Fraudsters Out of the Game Using iovation Device Reputation.
Tags: bonus abuse, casino sites, fraud ring, online casino, Online Gambling, player collusion, WagerWorks
