The gaming industry in the United States came under heavy fire from fraudsters in 2021 – these are the conclusions posted in a report by Global Digital Fraud Trends Report in their latest edition. According to the document, there has been a 60.3% year-over-year increase in the level of fraudulent activity associated with the gaming industry in 2021.
Gambling Still Manages to Fight Off Fraudsters
The level of digital fraud for gaming grew by 68.6% between 2019 and 2021 and 32.6% between 2020 and 2021. The gambling industry posted a somewhat lower level of fraud in the two surveyed periods, with 29.4% and 19.2% respectively, which may be indicative of how well-protected games of chance are.
Commenting on traditional gaming fraud, the survey discovered that the most common type of fraud was the farming of “gold,” often a digital currency used in popular video games, such as World of Warcraft.
The gold is then sold on third-party websites for real money to players who are willing to purchase the currency instead of acquiring it themselves. Gold farming was prevalent in places such as the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Colombia, but also popular in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Commenting for Yogonet, an industry website, TransUnion Global Fraud Solutions SVP Shai Cohen said that fraudsters are incentivized by whatever it is that players need at any one point. Essentially, fraudsters are lured by any activity that is part of a video game or the gambling industry that is associated with high consumer spending.
Fraudsters Have a Particular Type of Consumer
Activities that see consumers spend time and money are favorable. While World of Warcraft is not explicitly mentioned in the report, it still makes for one of the best examples of “gold farming” practices that go back decades.
Financial services, travel, and leisure remain the industries that show the highest incidence of fraud and are most susceptible to such influences. In finances, fraudsters often use stolen card data to carry out their activities to the detriment of consumers. Gambling is not talked about at length in the report, but the overall incidence of fraud in the industry indicates that gambling regulation is keeping most fraudsters at bay.