The modern world is constantly changing, and with it, fraudulent schemes are also evolving. Fraud keeps adapting to new technologies, but we are always one step ahead (and strive to make that step as wide as possible). In our industry, where we cooperate with digital gaming partners, scammers try all sorts of tricks: from canceled payments to using stolen cards. Our job is not to give them a single chance.
📣 Spoiler alert: we’re doing great!
And then we’ll move on to the main thing, while you still have the energy to read 😀 What types of fraud are there and how do we fight them:
1️⃣ The most primitive, but still one of the most common types of fraud is Friendly Fraud.
The essence is simple: the user initiates a purchase or payment themselves, and then claims that they «didn’t buy anything» or «were deceived», trying to get their money back through the bank.
In practice, we encounter several typical scenarios of Friendly Fraud:
- The users forgot about their purchase or did not notice that they received the goods/services, and instead of contacting support, they immediately initiate a refund through the bank.
- Children use their parents’ cards without their knowledge. For example, a son pays for a purchase with his mother’s card, and then the parents write to support demanding a refund.
- Errors when replenishing a deposit: the user did not take the commission into account, received less funds on their balance than expected, and immediately started a dispute about the write-off through the bank.
- Purchase of an asset while making a deposit. While the user is replenishing their balance, someone manages to purchase the product he or she is interested in. Instead of requesting a refund, the user chooses a more aggressive strategy and writes a complaint to the bank about «fraud».
To combat such cases, we analyze user behavior patterns and study their purchase history, refund activity, and support requests. This allows us to quickly identify real cases of Friendly Fraud and prevent financial losses for the platform.
2️⃣ Payment Fraud: the use of stolen cards. Our algorithms detect unusual transactions and block suspicious activity before it even starts.
3️⃣ KYC Fraud: scammers try to appear as legitimate users by using fake accounts and forged documents. We analyze the connections between accounts and identify such tricksters.
4️⃣ One of the most common types of fraud is Chargeback Fraud.
The scheme works like this: a user receives a digital product or service, then contacts the bank to request a refund, claiming that the purchase was not made or the product was not delivered.
In practice, we often encounter the following situations:
- The user claims that they did not receive the goods, even though they were actually delivered and activated.
- Denial of purchase. The person claims that they did not make the payment, even though their account is registered and the transaction history proves otherwise.
- Fraud with other people’s cards. Attackers use other people’s bank cards to pay, and then the real cardholders file a chargeback, trying to get a refund for purchases they did not make themselves.
In response to such actions, we quickly gather evidence: technical logs, order history, account activity confirmations, and internal records of goods delivery. All of this helps us successfully dispute unjustified returns and protect the interests of the platform.
5️⃣ API scams are attempts to automate fraud through loopholes in the API. We close these gaps and configure protection so that any suspicious requests are blocked immediately.
Anti-fraud technologies
Yes, we are certainly fighting fraudsters, but every day our team likes to remember a quote from Marcus Aurelius:
«When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly».
And it is precisely for such people that we use machine learning, transaction analysis, and behavioral monitoring to identify fraudsters in advance. Payment systems are also on alert: thanks to their algorithms, we stop suspicious transactions before they are processed 🫡
The human factor
But let’s be honest, even the best technology cannot replace real people. Our team of anti-fraud managers reviews disputed cases, analyzes users, and communicates with them if something seems suspicious. Sometimes an honest conversation helps us quickly understand who we are dealing with (a real player or a cunning cheater). A little magic, a little psychology — and voilà! 🎇
Conclusion
Fraud is not just about the money of the companies we work with. It’s about the security of users, their payment details, and the gaming economy as a whole. It’s also about each of us closing our laptops thinking: «We’ve done everything we can to ensure our users can sleep peacefully». So, we remind you: don’t leave your bank details lying around and don’t be tempted by «easy money».
For our part, we will continue to upgrade our anti-fraud system so that fraudsters can’t get their hands on our partners’ products.
Thank you for reading, and take care of yourself and your money!
