Detecting online fraud is one of the largest issues plaguing the gaming community.
Year-over-year fraud has been increasing by 64% on average between 2022 and 2024 in the online gaming industry. Billions of dollars are exchanged on gaming platforms daily. That’s a lot of money for scammers to get their hands on.
Here’s the issue:
Gamers aren’t educated enough about how to detect fraud. They don’t know what to look for or how to protect themselves once they find it. This is where gaming communities come into play.
What you’ll pick up:
- Why Online Gaming Fraud Is At Record Levels
- The Community-Based Approach to Fighting Fraud
- How To Spot Online Fraud In Gaming
- How-To Protect Yourself From Fraudsters
Why Online Gaming Fraud Is At Record Levels
Online gaming has grown massively in the past few years.
With the gaming industry now being worth over $200 billion dollars worldwide, cybercriminals want a piece of the pie.
This data from TransUnion’s 2024 Fraud Study found that gaming had the highest volume of suspected digital fraud in the US at 10.9% of all transactions — surpassing all other industries to be deemed the most vulnerable. To compare, that number was up 9% from the previous year.
Let that sink in for a moment.
About 1 in every 10 transactions in the US gaming industry are suspected fraud. That is a huge problem. Online fraud detection has become so popular because scams are such a prevalent issue. In South Korea, for example, fraud verification communities known as ๋จนํํฝ ์ปค๋ฎค๋ํฐ (which roughly translates to “scam-pick community”) have been created to help players identify and avoid fraudulent platforms before losing their money.
Gaming fraud is different from other types of scams you may see.
Gaming transactions include activities such as micro-transactions, virtual currency purchases, gifts, and real money exchanges. All of which provide unique avenues for hackers to exploit.
The types of fraud happening in online gaming keep evolving as technology improves. Deepfake technology, synthetic identities, and bots are just a few methods fraudsters use.
The Community-Based Approach to Fighting Fraud
Here’s something most people don’t realise…
A lot of the most powerful online fraud detection doesn’t come from big corporations trying to catch fraudsters. It comes from players themselves.
The same people getting scammed are fighting fire with fire by verifying websites, reviewing gaming platforms, and exposing scammers to protect fellow gamers.
Community-based fraud detection is accomplished through:
Gaming communities forming together to protect their own. When somebody gets scammed using a gaming platform, they report it to their community. Other members will research the claim and verify if it’s valid. Then players spread the information about the fraudulent platform across the community to warn as many people as possible.
These communities look for:
- Legit sites to play on
- Ways that sites are scamming players
- Review sites to verify payouts
Information is verified by multiple members which adds a level of credibility to the claims. Something impressive about this method is how quickly information is shared. It can take corporations months to get hackers off of their platforms. Community info can get shared in a matter of hours.
How To Spot Online Fraud In Gaming
Now you understand how gaming communities help detect fraud. But what can you, as a player, look out for?
Dozens of communities were reviewed to find the most common signs of online fraud in gaming.
Inconsistent Payout Odds
If you’ve ever rolled the dice or played slots you know how exciting it is to win. But you also know that you’re more likely to lose than win.
When payouts don’t line up with the odds posted on the site, players will immediately know something is off.
Members of gaming communities make it their job to know these odds and catch abnormal payouts.
Fake Generated Review Sites
One of the oldest tactics in the book is creating fake testimonials to lure players into trusting platforms.
Community members know to look for certain cues that signify whether a review is legitimate or manufactured.
Complex Registration Processes
If registering or claiming your payout involves an unnecessary number of steps, it’s probably a scam.
Legitimate platforms make banking funds as easy as possible for their players. Dozens of smaller steps related to verification is almost always a fraud attempt.
How-To Protect Yourself From Fraudsters
Online fraud will unfortunately always be around.
Cybercrime as a whole saw total losses of $16.6 billion in 2024 according to the FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report. That’s a 33% increase from 2023. Gaming tends to be one of the top industries that cyber criminals target.
There are several steps you can take to protect yourself from scams:
Do your research. This can’t be said enough. Make sure you Google the platform you’re intending to use. Use verified community sites to look up reviews on the gaming platform’s reputation. Look for any red flags in their processes before you deposit any money. Take 5 minutes to save yourself thousands.
Use common security practices. Enabling two-factor authentication, using unique passwords, and securing your accounts with advanced security options is imperative. Never share your account information with anyone either.
Knowledge is power. By enrolling in trusted communities you can stay ahead of hackers by knowing the latest scams. The more people working together to catch scammers, the more information is created to stop them.
If you notice anything suspicious, report it to your community. Little things you might think are nothing could be half of a bigger puzzle someone else is seeing.
And one last thing worth mentioning…
Keep yourself educated about new scamming techniques. Just because you know how to spot a scam now doesn’t mean scammers aren’t finding new ways to fool people. Stay up to date with community news and alerts about new hacker tricks.
Bringing It All Together
Online fraud can make you not want to play your favorite games. But staying educated and working with others to detect fraud is your best defense.
Here’s your cheat sheet:
- Gaming fraud continues to grow each year
- Communities play a vital role in the online fraud detection process
- Sharing information between players can catch scammers more quickly than traditional methods
- Some tell-tale signs of fraud include unusual payout odds, phony reviews, and complicated verification processes
- Do your research before playing on any new platform
- Use other players and communities as a resource to stay informed about scams
Online fraud won’t be stopped by any single person or organization. It takes communities coming together to fight back.
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