NFL season and sports betting could bring challenges in US online gambling fraud

With American football season beginning and more states legalizing online gambling, a TransUnion company anticipates challenges with bonus abuse, fraud, self-exclusion and underage gambling that it's seen in Europe for decades.

iovation announced Wednesday it anticipates these challenges in the U.S. online gambling market and is responding by launching a new package of solutions through iovation and TransUnion. The product suite focuses around the onboarding of new players and helps U.S. online gambling operators comply with new regulations, combat fraud and improve the player experience.

The company is making its prognostication based on its experience in the European market during the past 15 years supporting over 100 operators and platform providers there including eight of the world's ten largest gambling infrastructure providers.

"The online gambling gold rush today in the U.S. is akin to what we saw nearly two decades ago when iovation first began working with European operators as countries there began to legalize online gambling," said iovation Co-Founder Greg Pierson. "With states legalizing online gambling and the American fantasy football season kicking off, operators are sprinting to launch apps and websites. They are putting most of their efforts into getting users with less emphasis on preventing gambling issues."

Specific issues that iovation anticipates around player onboarding and solves for U.S. gambling operators include five topics.

Age verification. In all states, the legal online gambling age is 21. Much like anything else where there is an age limit, underage people are going to try and participate.

Bonus abuse. Many online gambling companies provide incentives like money or credit for betting to attract new players and grow existing relationships. But often, fraudsters exploit these programs which result in real losses for operators. iovation has seen bonus abuse rise 287 percent from 2015 to 2018.

Credit card fraud. Since 2014, iovation found credit card fraud increased in online gambling —predominantly outside the U.S.— by 155 percent with an average annual growth of 39 percent.

Managing play by boundaries. With online gambling being legal in one state and then illegal within a neighboring state, operators are going to need to pinpoint a gamblers' location and limit play if needed.

Self-exclusion. When a player admits they have a gambling problem and "self-excludes" from a gambling site, the operator is now accountable for ensuring the player does not resume gambling activities or potentially face penalties. In many instances, a self-excluded gambler tries to set up a new account when they have a change of heart. Or fraudsters set up a new account using a stolen credit card, deposit funds using that card and then self-exclude before the chargeback hits.

iovation has a service provider license in Nevada, with many iovation partners operating in the United States. This includes SBTech, which will power online sports betting in iovation's home state for the Oregon State Lottery's new sports betting brand, ‘Scoreboard.’

"SBTech puts player protection and anti-money laundering at the heart of our platform operations for our partners in regulated regions across the U.S., Europe and emerging markets," said Andrew Cochrane, Chief Development Officer at SBTech. "Thanks to our expanded partnership with iovation, these partners now have access to the industry's most advanced device recognition technology enabling them to instantly identify and authorize verified players and significantly reduce levels of potential fraud."

The U.S. gambling solution offerings available through iovation and TransUnion combine iovation's digital identity solutions that uses device behavior and TransUnion's identity verification solutions, helping to protect the entire player's journey.