The global video game industry is booming, despite the economic turmoil caused by Covid-19. In March 2020, video game sales were at their highest in a decade and the trend continuing throughout the month of April as more and more people look for a distraction. But this increase brought into the spotlight the risks of online gaming, as scammers continue to exploit the situation for their benefit.
As most online games involve in-game purchases, in-game currency, and ways to upgrade online profiles using real-world currency, they serve as a target for cybercriminals. Minors in particular are more susceptible to such risks as they are less aware of the consequences. Here’s why it is crucial to verify players in the gaming industry to keep scammers at bay, for more update must visit Khelegaindia
To Ensure Gaming Safety
Whether it’s Fortnight, Clash of Clans, or League of Legends – the threat of online phishing, stolen account details and identity theft remains. With cybercrimes on the rise, gamers have a new front to guard. By having an identity and age verification software in place, gaming platforms and players alike can prevent their information from being misused.
Let’s take the example of Fortnight to better understand some scams.
Identity theft, Phishing, and More
Fortnite, a multiplayer battling game, uses V-Bucks to sell in-game items. However, players need to buy tokens first using real money. Scammers wait for the opportunity to arise and then offer free caches of V-Bucks to steal data. They also use online videos to attract viewers into buying special items and then attempt to steal their account data. Once gamers enter account details to avail of these special awards, scammers successfully get access to their payment details. Essentially, all the methods of account detail theft associate with traditional phishing are also present in today’s popular games. Cybercriminals can easily compile piles of data on you from the gaming platforms you one online. The more details they gain access to, the more ways they can misuse your information and impersonate you for other fraudulent activities.
Apart from phishing attacks and identity theft, another emerging threat is that of online casino scams. From 2020 to 2027, the online gambling industry is expecting to grow at an annual growth rate of 11.5%. In terms of revenue, the amount is expecting to reach an all-time high of US$ 77420.56 Million in 2026. That’s huge! The most commonly occurring examples of online casino scams are deposit theft and rigged games.
Explaining Online Casino Scams
Here’s how it works:
- You open a website and register yourself by providing identity and account details
- Scammers let you win for a while by running rigged games, with the intention of luring you into spending money
- Once you are rinsed of every penny and give up on the game, scam casino software suggest other games you may like, that are in reality pirated versions of legitimate games
- You shift to playing those clone games with the tweaked codes, unaware of what’s happening
- The circle repeats
Gambling companies have faced hefty fines in the past for not complying with regulations and for not having adequate measures in place to verify online players. This brings us to our second reason for explaining the importance of gaming verification.
To Fulfill Regulatory Requirements
Gaming platform operators are requiring to meet globally approved KYC and AML requirements to avoid heavy fines and criminal charges being filed against them.
Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
Implementing Customer Due Diligence (CDD) through Know Your Player procedures and carrying out AML background checks can assist gaming operators in building a clean user base on the first stage of onboarding. Player identification can be performing through Know Your Player procedures, which include verifying the player’s ID through legitimate documents. These documents can include government-issued ID cards, passports, and other official documents.
AML regulations
Furthermore, although AML regulations are the same for all industries, casino fraud involves betting which has greater chances of money laundering. Criminals can “clean” their money by making low-outcome bets, and then use that washed money to further sponsor betting. AML regulations help put a stop to such activities by making background checks on the player identity against:
- Sanction lists
- Global watchlists
- Criminal databases
- Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) lists
Summing It Up
Online casinos and virtual gaming operators are increasingly facing new challenges. This has led to an increased need for player identity verification, especially to meet regulatory compliance requirements.
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