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MGA participates in UEFA and Council of Europe conference on the use of social networks in match-fixing

Published

3 months ago

November 11, 2022

George Miller

MGA participates in UEFA and Council of Europe conference on the use of social networks in match-fixing

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) was one of the participants at a conference organised by the Council of Europe and UEFA, in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee and INTERPOL, on the emerging use of social media platforms in match-fixing.

Entitled “Sports Competitions Manipulation in the digital era: better addressing it together”, the conference focused on the misuse of social media platforms in contacting players and referees for match-fixing purposes.

The conference brought together the Group of Copenhagen’s National Platforms, the sport movement, public authorities, data brokers and social media representatives to learn about and exchange knowledge on recent trends in sports competitions manipulation.

As such techniques become increasingly sophisticated, real opportunities are emerging for further discussions and improved prevention efforts.

Antonio Abdilla Zerafa, MLRO and Head of Financial Crime Compliance at the MGA, said that the Authority’s presence at such fora was important since the MGA continuously assists law enforcement and sports regulatory bodies with their investigations into acts of sports competition manipulation through the sharing of intelligence, which includes betting data.

“In this particular conference, it was nice to see social media platforms also being welcomed into the discussion. Personally, I regard this as a milestone as I believe that such platforms have a lot of information that they can bring to the table to help prevent and investigate such crimes.”

The conference was held on the 19th of October in Strasbourg.

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The Big Game: perfect target for cybercriminals?

Published

6 hours ago

February 1, 2023

Hunor Pal

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In 2022, the BlackByte ransomware group published a 292MB file containing sensitive information from the San Francisco 49ers. Like teams, venues and vendors, bookmakers are also in danger as they handle a large volume of personal data in the run-up to major events, during the events themselves and in the aftermath.

With the Big Game coming up soon in the US, Sumsub, an all-in-one verification platform that secures the entire customer journey with customizable KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring and AML solutions, has outlined what to expect and how to avoid threats associated with major events.

Expected traffic increases

Last year’s Big Game registered more than 101 million viewers according to the Nielsen consultancy. American fans avidly continue to bet on major sporting events as more and more states legalize gambling following the removal of a federal ban. By the end of 2022, the online betting industry registered a growth of two billion dollars, driven by sports pools.

Based on its experience with traffic spikes at major sporting events, Sumsub expects to see a traffic increase of more than 83% at sportsbooks around the last game of the American football season.

“Though major sporting events attract much-desired traffic to betting platforms, cybercriminals and scammers increase in number as well, so bookmakers need to take extra care. Manual verification is not optimal because, with the increased user traffic, onboarding time grows accordingly, so the best choice would be to find a trusted all-in-one verification provider offering an advanced automated solution for KYC, AML and anti-fraud,” said Andrew Sever, co-founder and CEO of Sumsub.

As user traffic increases and verification takes longer, it can be tempting for betting platforms to cut some expenses. This is especially true for bookmakers used to performing manual verification, which can take more than 24 hours under normal circumstances and much longer during big events. Bookmakers know that if verification takes too long, users will go to the competition. As a result, they may be willing to sacrifice verification accuracy for speed.

However, this type of compromise inevitably leads to regulatory sanctions. For example, Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, was fined £17 million ($20.6 million)—the largest ever fine in the UK—for failing to enforce player security and anti-money laundering measures.

Surge in fraud

Fraud is increasing in the gaming sector. In Q1 2022, fraud increased 50.1% compared to Q1 2021. There was also an 85% increase in fake account registrations compared to Q4 2021. The upcoming Big Game is expected to attract even more fraudsters.

The list of fraud schemes that bookmakers experience is extensive:

arbitrage betting
multiple accounts
identity theft
account takeover
money laundering
affiliate fraud

Cybersecurity threats

“Big sporting events and hacking go hand in hand and the bigger the event, the more threats there are. Attackers can be individual hacker groups looking to make a quick buck or politically oriented groups wanting to steal sensitive information,” added Andrew Sever.

Cyberattacks range from hacking into match broadcasts and security cameras to stealing the personal data of athletes, organizers and spectators. More attention needs to be paid to collecting and storing user data securely, as well as increasing the overall resistance of betting platforms to hackers.

Best ways to avoid threats while enjoying high traffic?

During major sporting events, the challenge for bookmakers is to onboard users without reducing approval rates, all while remaining AML (anti-money laundering) compliant and maintaining security.

The solution is to create an automated verification flow that allows users to easily onboard and go through extra checks only where and when it really matters. Below is a list of checks bookmakers can employ at each stage of the customer journey. There are also some suggestions on how to make this flow even more agile:

Request a minimum number of checks at the time of registration. When a user registers for the first time, platforms may limit verification procedures to collecting names and checking phone numbers or email. This way, the user becomes familiar with the service and is more motivated to go through the full verification procedure when he really wants to place a bet.

Deploy simplified checks when appropriate. For low-risk users, bookmakers can introduce a simplified check using a single document, as long as it contains identity and address information. This allows users to avoid uploading additional documents to verify their address, thus increasing approval rates.

Add additional checks when users make their first deposit. This could include bank card verification and facial biometric check to ensure that the true cardholder is making a deposit.

Introduce facial recognition to prevent fraud. Doing this at the onboarding stage combats multi-accounting. Adding biometric verification when users log in or recover their account ensures that fraudsters can’t hack it. And it’s often even more important to use it at the stage of withdrawal of funds, which is where more fraud tends to occur.

“Adding these checks to the flow reduces verification time and still ensures security. For example, Kaizen Gaming moved from manual verification to Sumsub’s automated solution, reduced their average onboarding time to 1 minute 39 seconds and increased its overall performance by 350%, all while eliminating fraud,” concluded Sever.

Discussion: networking event for gambling professionals in London

In partnership with Sardine, an industry leading fraud prevention platform, Sumsub announced Gambling Pros Party, a private networking event for gambling professionals which will take place at Clays Canary Wharf, London on February 6, 2023 at 18:30 UK time. This event will be useful for experts, businesspeople and professionals working in the betting and gambling companies.

Participation is free of charge and for gambling professionals only. To save your seat, please register with your business email: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/520357091067/?discount=Sumsub

Gaming

Pascal Gaming’s Integration into Betshop Cashier Client

Published

6 hours ago

February 1, 2023

Hunor Pal

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Pascal Gaming’s GRAVITY solution is now available in the BETSHOP CASHIER CLIENT application.

Gravity betshop solution is a casino games created by Pascal Gaming for retail business. The Gravity betshop solution delivers on-demand and compelling games – and now Double Wheel, Non-Stop Roulette, OddBall and Baccarat are available on the LAND BASED platform.

Pascal Gaming’s integration will add a new experience for players who want to choose their preferred land-based games, place bets and win exciting prizes.

The new functionality helps them follow the reports and manage everything from one location, including keeping track of balances and bet tickets.

Gaming

Asia Mobile Gaming Market Analysis Report 2023: The Market is Approaching a Major Inflection Point Due Largely to 5G Connectivity – Forecasts to 2028

Published

6 hours ago

February 1, 2023

Hunor Pal

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The “Mobile Gaming in Asia by Technology, Platform, Stakeholder, Connectivity, Sub-Region and Countries 2023-2028” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets .com’s offering.

This report represents must-have research for anyone focused on mobile entertainment and/or VAS applications in Asia. This report represents a comprehensive assessment of mobile gaming opportunities in Asia. It provides insights into the mobile gaming business and analysis of current limitations, challenges, and opportunities.

The report also addresses various demand drivers/factors including: Asian mobile gaming demographic analysis, Asian mobile game-play behavior, game-play preference and projection analysis.

The report also provides a comparative analysis of Asian mobile gaming demography and preferences including: Male vs. Female, Casual vs. Core, “Freemium” vs. Premium, Social vs. Traditional, Tablet vs. Mobile, Smartphone vs. Web Enabled vs. Standard Phone, Regular vs. Irregular, Time and Money Spending dynamics.

Mobile gaming is the fastest growing segment of digital entertainment with roots connected to the console-based platform era building upon lessons learned from the likes of Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. Initially, adaptive versions of popular console titles were offered for mobile. Incrementally, entertainment targeted towards smartphones and tablets made inroads, particularly in the casual gaming segment. Today, smartphone-based games lead the mobile gaming industry by users but tablets generate higher rates across paid monetization, micro transactions and advertising.

Mostly casual and non-complex genres are popular on smartphone platforms whereas tablets provide a better user experience due to greater hardware capabilities and a superior user interface. Tablets now represent an attractive mid-core gaming platform as they have started competing substantively with console devices and may overtake them in the near future.

The mobile gaming business has also exploded with emerging revenue models such as free-to-play (F2P), “advergaming” etc. Social and community dynamics are also a revolutionary factor that has enhanced viral growth, user targeting, customer acquisition, and monetization, driving substantial daily average revenue per paying user. The major growth drivers are many and varied including growth of data enabled mobile devices, F2P revenue model and in-game advertising that includes display banner, interactive, video ads and “advergaming” (brand sponsorship).

After acquiring millions of mobile users, gaming companies have realized that the emphasis should be focused on user retention rather than innovation. Therefore, the gaming industry is largely focused upon enhancing in-game experience on a periodic basis rather than creating entirely new games, which have proven to cause a drop in loyal users.

In addition, gaming business models have experienced a transition from free-to-play to freemium and also a focus on highly successful categories such as social casino style gaming and real money games.

Select Report Findings

Market for mobile gaming in the Asia region as a whole will reach $93.2 billion by 2028
Market for mobile game publishers and service aggregators in Asia will reach $51.3 billion by 2028
WiFi will continue to be the most extensive means of connectivity followed by LTE and 5G through 2028
While male gamers continue to dominate usage, female gamers are growing 62% faster, poised to reach parity within a decade
Mobile gaming business models have experienced a transition from free-to-play to freemium and also a focus on highly successful categories
Smartphones have the greatest user penetration but tablets represent the best user experience that competes well against the console market
Mobile gaming by device type is dominated by smartphone usage as other devices experience substantially slower growth and tablets are losing ground
Major growth drivers are explosion of data enabled mobile devices, F2P revenue model and in-game advertising that includes display banner, interactive, video ads and “advergaming”

Market Dynamic Analysis

Market Growth Driver Analysis