Industry News
iovation Research: Fraudsters Increasingly Leveraging Mobile Devices for Schemes
TransUnion company explores top continents and countries for risky mobile transactions, and types of behavior businesses to need to look for to catch mobile fraud
iovation, a TransUnion company, today released its recent research that about half of all risky online transactions appear to be coming from a mobile device. Specifically, in the first half of 2019 iovation saw 49% of all risky transactions come from mobile devices, up from 30% in 2018, 33% in 2017 and 25% in 2016.
“Fraudsters are like chameleons. They are always adapting their tactics to make it look like they’re legitimate customers,” said iovation’s Senior Director of Customer Success, Melissa Gaddis. “With well over half of all transactions now coming from mobile devices, our analysts increasingly see fraudsters either using mobile devices or making it look like their transactions are coming from mobile when in fact they are using a traditional desktop.”
Among its research, iovation found:
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The top continents for mobile fraud: So far in 2019 it is North America with 59% of all risky transactions coming from mobile devices. In 2018, it was Asia at 53%. In 2017, it was North America with 55%. In 2016, it was North America again with 36%.
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The top countries for mobile fraud: Gabon leads so far in 2019 with 85% of all risky transactions coming from mobile devices. It 2018, it was Japan with 79%. Papua New Guinea led in 2017 with 86%. In 2016, it was Bangladesh with 59%.
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The top industries for mobile fraud: So far in 2019 it is telecommunications with 75% of all risky transactions coming from mobile devices. In 2018, it was gambling with 60%. Communities (for example social networks or online dating sites) led in 2017 at 59%. In 2016, it was healthcare with 58%.
To find fraudulent transactions from mobile devices, iovation suggests businesses closely analyze specific indicators including:
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Mobile emulators: Fraudsters like to hide information by using emulators to make it look like their desktop device is a mobile device.
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Orientation: Is a device staying in the same position or is it face down? These could be tell-tale signs of a bot or a fraudster emulating a mobile device.
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SIM card country: Since fraudsters often try to mask their location, the SIM card country provides yet another method for identifying the true location of the end-user. Fraud analysts may find fraudsters that target their businesses tend to have devices from particular countries.
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SIM card carrier name: Certain mobile carriers can have a higher percentage of fraudulent activity originating from them.
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Currency: The type of currency tied to a device provides additional context to the region associated with the device. This can be another way to determine if the device is coming from a risky location.
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Language: Much like countries, carriers and currency, the language used on a device provides additional context on the transaction which can help crack a fraud case when a fraudster is attempting to mask other aspects of their device.
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Mobile OS version: Certain mobile operating system versions may correlate with fraud or abuse.
Mobile Transaction Jump
iovation found 61% of all online transactions came from mobile devices so far this year, up from 56% in 2018, 51% in 2017 and 45% in 2016. Europe and North America are consistently among the top continents for mobile transactions with 67% and 60% respectively so far this year. The top industry for mobile transactions so far in 2019 is communities with 73%.
For more insights into iovation’s findings along with new iovation features to catch mobile fraud, go to this blog post that includes an infographic.
Methodology
iovation came to its findings by analyzing the 30 billion online transactions it evaluated for fraud from January 2016 to June 30, 2019. To find the risky mobile transactions, it calculated the percent of risky transactions from mobile devices compared to overall risky transactions. For overall mobile transactions, it calculated the percent of mobile transactions compared to all online transactions. iovation defines risky transactions as those that typically result in fraud.
About iovation:
iovation, a TransUnion company, was founded with a simple guiding mission: to make the Internet a safer place for people to conduct business. Since 2004, the company has been delivering against that goal, helping brands protect and engage their customers, and keeping them secure in the complex digital world. Armed with the world’s largest and most precise database of reputation insights and cryptographically secure multifactor authentication methods, iovation safeguards tens of millions of digital transactions each day.
Industry News
Maximising Your Cross-Market Appeal
With Bitblox introducing an entirely new breed of crypto-based price prediction games to the iGaming industry, we talked to CEO, Brandt Page, to discover how combining elements of both chance and skill with lightning-fast betting rounds has helped improve their cross-market appeal.
When Bitblox was first established, our core concept was relatively simple; we didn’t just want to provide players with a new twist on an existing format like slots or casino games, but instead sought to create an entirely new vertical that combined elements of chance and elements of skill.
One of the main drivers behind this decision was the fact that we wanted our releases to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and I think from the figures we’ve seen so far, we’ve already had some notable success on that front in terms of the players that are engaging with our games.
Funnily enough, I was recently talking to the Head of Marketing from one of the operators that we work with and they told me they were struggling to place our games optimally. Initially, they’d put them in with crash and instant win content, but they soon discovered a lot of their in-game traffic was coming from sports bettors. A move to the sports betting tab followed, but the exact same-thing happened with casino players, leading to the games eventually winding up on the front page.
As this was going on, our games were continuing to post solid numbers with the customers who bet on both sports and casino – and all of this engagement was coming without there being any additional promotion from us or the operator. So why was it that our games were performing so well across these different player segments? I believe there are a number of contributing factors.
First and foremost, having this hybrid model of games of chance and games of skill that I’ve already mentioned has placed us in a fairly unique position within the iGaming industry. On the one hand, the simple premise of our Bitcoin-based titles – coupled with their attractive designs and intuitive UI – makes them highly accessible to casino players who are just looking to have fun.
On the other, the fact that Bitblox games aren’t based on RNG and are instead pinned to the real-time movements of the Bitcoin market certainly resonates with a sports betting audience. As they have the ability to follow the charts and use this information to inform their decisions, they definitely feel they have more control over the outcome than if they were playing a traditional slot.
Another key aspect of our cross-market appeal is the fast-paced nature of all Bitblox releases. With casino players being accustomed to the quick wins and instant gratification of slots and crash games and sports bettors also showing a growing preference for in-play wagering, we’ve ensured each game round is resolved quickly and that there are multiple opportunities for betting.
When we first launched Up or Down?, which features one-minute betting rounds, we soon learned that even this timeframe is too long for some players. This resulted in us developing Up or Down? Turbo – a game which kept the same mechanics as its predecessor but reduced the betting window to 20 seconds – and this has gone on to become one of our most successful titles.
Keeping all this in mind, one of the things I’m most excited about is the upcoming release of our latest game, 3 in a Row, as I think this is a title that really ties everything I’ve talked about so far together. Designed to look like a slot machine, 3 in a Row challenges players to correctly predict how the Bitcoin price will move over three separate 20-second windows for even bigger payouts.
Intended to appeal to casual users and serious sports bettors alike, players can elect to either spin the reels for fun and select a random price sequence or use the bet builder feature to put together their own custom prediction. With the latter essentially functioning like an accumulator bet, players can select up to three possible combinations – i.e. Up/Up/Up, Up/Up/Down etc – and only one result needs to land for them to win, ensuring they stay engaged until the final seconds.
I believe that 3 in a Row can help build on the strong foundations we’ve laid down with casino and sports bettors and provide operators with another popular option that offers significant cross-market appeal. Based on what we’ve seen from previous Bitblox releases, the audience for titles that combine elements of chance and elements of skill is definitely out there – and I’m looking forward to our unique brand of crypto-based games being enjoyed by even more players in future.
Industry News
Gaming Corps to launch with lotteries in the USA via EQL games deal
In-demand content provider extends reach into largest iGaming market in the world with its full suite of games made available via iLottery aggregation platform
Gaming Corps, a publicly-listed game studio based in Sweden renowned for creating industry-leading games, has made its debut in the US market through a breakthrough agreement with leading lottery provider, EQL Games.
The distribution agreement will see Gaming Corps’ full suite of games made available to EQL Games’ powerful iLottery Aggregation Platform, developed to provide lottery operators across America with direct access to a portfolio of proprietary and third-party games.
Following the integration, EQL Games’ lottery operator partners will be offered proven Slots, Table Games, Multiplier Games, Mine Games and Plinko Games, as well as titles under Gaming Corps’ innovative and trademarked Smash4Cash™ series.
The deal and integration come at a time of growing demand among online lottery operators in the US for non-traditional content, a format that Gaming Corps has excelled in, especially with its Smash4Cash™ games, which have been a hit with players in global markets.
EQL’s aggregation platform has been developed to allow online lottery operators to quickly and easily access content from multiple game studios simultaneously through one integration and one commercial agreement.
Its iLottery Aggregation platform simplifies the process of adding new games to an online lottery brand across regulated states. In addition to the third-party content provided via its aggregator platform, EQL Games has a portfolio of in-house titles.
This includes games produced under licence with Team USA which were rolled out by several state lotteries for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this year, with new titles being planned ahead of the Winter Games in Milan (2026) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (2028).
Juha Kauppinen, CEO of Gaming Corps, said: “The USA has always been somewhat of the holy grail for game developers like us, which has been further emphasised as markets in several states have become regulated. The potential in the American market is enormous, and the impact for us is a bit difficult to assess, but we have great hopes for the collaboration with EQL Games, which has an impressive platform towards U.S. lotteries.
“We believe it will have a significantly positive impact on our revenues. I would like to personally take the opportunity to thank EQL Games and Brad Cummings for the collaboration, and we are now working hard to complete the integration so that all our games will be offered to EQL’s customers via their platform.”
Brad Cummings, CEO of EQL Games, added: “Including Gaming Corps as a supplier to the EQL Games iLottery Aggregator is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer unique, high-quality content to state lotteries. Gaming Corps’ expertise in iGaming, along with their unique game portfolio, fits perfectly with our vision of enhancing the lottery experience through dynamic and engaging content.”
Industry News
Public Voting Starts for Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0
The highly anticipated Ortak x B.F.T.H. Arena Awards 3.0 has officially entered the public voting phase as submissions are closed.
More than 70 game providers have turned in over 160 submissions, including Tom Horn Gaming, Pragmatic Play and RubyPlay. Public voting involves enthusiasts casting their votes to pick the winner of the Game of Public Choice category.
The Public voting phase ends on December 1st 23:59 GMT+4.
Concurrent to public voting, the first phase of private voting also starts during which all participants who have submitted entries get the chance to vote for one favourite in each category. An international auditing company oversees this phase to eliminate duplicate votes and self-votes. This phase ends on November 19, 23:59 GMT+4.
The second phase of private voting will also take place with a jury of industry experts making their decisions based on the shortlist picked by participants during the first phase.
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