Synthetic identities are one of the biggest issues plaguing the iGaming industry right now. These are fake identities, cobbled together from real-world information, designed to trick verifiers and, in many cases, exploit online casino bonuses.
Allowing these synthetic identities to slip through the net can be highly damaging to a business. Trends like bonus hunting or match betting are an increasingly big problem. These see customers create multiple accounts to exploit bonuses or use different markets against bookmakers. Bonus abuse, in particular, is costing the industry millions every year.
What was once just a small number of individuals trying to take advantage has now evolved into an elaborate network of fraudsters, sometimes even roping in members of the public to scam casinos out of thousands.
A Losing Battle
Traditional KYC checks are especially vulnerable to this kind of fraud. The typical KYC verification check for a customer will involve the operator requesting a passport scan. If they are more suspicious and question the user’s authenticity, they will ask for a selfie alongside a picture of some form of authentication.
The fundamental issue with this is that, to the human eye, these checks are likely to pass. Synthetic identities have often been built to ensure they pass basic document and KYC checks. The documents look flawless, and the faces in the picture, often expert-level deep fakes, appear perfectly normal to the naked eye.
What is more concerning is how quickly these fraudsters can move. They use automated processes to turn out these identities, making it extremely difficult for some casinos to even know how many of their customers are real.
Using manual checks against such an advanced form of fraud is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Your standard compliance check has little chance of success, regardless of how much training you provide.
Turning the Tide
This is where platforms like eyeDP can step in. Our AI verification is not just designed to validate documents; it is built to ensure operators stay one step ahead of fraudsters creating these identities.
AI-powered tools can achieve this in several ways. Our platform performs real-time verification that instantly detects fraudulent documents, reducing error rates by up to 80%, while simultaneously cross-referencing content with available public sources. It can also identify manipulated documents and help to spot irregularities with synthetic identities.
Our system uses real-time alerts that will notify operators of any document discrepancies the moment they occur. Operators can also use our search and retrieval system, which allows them to store and instantly access documents, which can be an incredibly useful tool when it comes to highlighting any potential inconsistencies or discrepancies.
Of course, like AI itself, synthetic identity fraud is continuing to evolve. Arms races between verifiers and fraudsters are nothing new, but this one is moving at lightning speed. Fortunately, AI-powered verification has an incredible ability to learn and adapt, allowing it to always be keeping up with emerging threats.
Machine learning models are constantly training on new fraud patterns, incorporating emerging deepfake techniques, novel document manipulation methods, and evolving synthetic identity strategies. This is not the game of whack-a-mole it once was; we can win the war.
Of course, the benefits of this also extend to the real customers, the ones who are also suffering as a result of these identities. Speeding up verification processes means they are not left with their hands in their pockets waiting for payouts, and it also makes the sign-up process much more efficient for everybody.
A Dependable Solution
For iGaming companies, this means they can rest assured that AI verification is taking care of the job. The platform’s capabilities become more accurate, ensuring there are no diminishing returns as time progresses.
Fraud is always going to be a major challenge in the iGaming world, but thanks to the rise of AI-verification technology, the tide is turning in favour of operators.
