As society becomes more intertwined with the Internet, concerns about cybercrime grow stronger. The sports betting industry handles huge volumes of data on a daily basis and some fear it might be a prime target of cybercriminals. Sumsub, a universal verification platform, is aware of the danger.

Operators Should Be Wary When High-Traffic Events Approach

Sumsub published an article about the dangers of cybercrime ahead of the Big Game, which might be targeted by cybercriminals. As a major event, it would attract many bettors, thus increasing data volumes and threats alike. With many operators concerned about the event, Sumsub published some tips on what to expect and how to avoid danger.

Sports betting is becoming more popular in the United States by the year. Sumsub believes that around 83% of sportsbooks would experience a traffic increase during the last game of the football season.

The increase in volume will inevitably attract more cybercriminals and scammers, which is why operators should remain vigilant, Andrew Sever, CEO of Sumsub, warned. He noted that manual verification is not an optimal solution as it increases onboarding times. According to Sever, sportsbooks would do best to find a trusted verification provider.

Sumsub warned against the temptation of cutting corners to avoid long verification times as this way operators would risk fines for AML failures.

There Are Many Dangers

Sadly, fraud seems to be on the rise in the gaming sector, Sumsub noted. In Q1 2022, fraud increased by more than 50% year-on-year while fake account registrations skyrocketed by 85% quarter-on-quarter. The Big Game will likely attract more wrongdoers, which is why Sumsub advised companies to be wary of arbitrage betting, people with multiple accounts, identity thefts, account takeovers, money laundering, affiliate fraud and cybersecurity issues.

Sever said:

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.

Andrew Sever, CEO, Sumsub

Not doing enough to prevent cyberattacks would endanger the safety of sports fans, athletes and organizers. Because of that, Sumsub believes that sportsbooks should create an automated verification flow that allows users to easily onboard and go through extra checks only when it really matters.

Sumsub’s Advice

Sumsub advised operators to follow these simple advice:

First of all, sportsbooks should request a minimum number of checks at the time of registration. Complicated registration processes might discourage customers from playing. When dealing with low-risk players bookmakers should use simplified checks, Sumsub believes.

When players make their first deposit, additional checks should be added. This can prevent people from making fake accounts or multiple accounts. During the onboarding stage, operators can also include biometric verification and facial recognition. These are even more important to introduce when players withdraw money.

Sever concluded that the aforementioned checks should help sportsbooks optimize verification time while still ensuring a high degree of security. He also promoted Sumsub’s automated solutions, which further reduce onboarding time and are proven to increase risk-free performance.