GeoComply has reported that despite the efforts of fraudsters to cheat the legal iGaming market in Ontario, licensed operators are the safest option for players. The report highlights that since the launch of online gambling in the Canadian province a year ago, the budding iGaming market has been targeted by international scammers. While the success of iGaming and online sports betting in Ontario has attracted a lot of attention from players all over the world, it has unfortunately attracted the attention of many fraudsters as well.
GeoComply’s report indicates that the number of total player accounts in the province is set to exceed a million, and revenue is on track to surpass half-a-billion Canadian dollars. However, the report also reveals that a lot of people have been attempting to cheat the system. Since the regulated market was launched in April last year, over 744,000 international users have attempted to log in 19.9 million times to Ontario operators. GeoComply noted that while customers are most protected when playing with licensed operators, it has detected a whopping 1,045 fraud rings affecting multiple operators.
The report further highlights that the first year of iGaming in Ontario saw over 219,000 devices blocked from gambling for fraud reasons, and GeoComply prevented 127,000 devices known to be associated with fraud from accessing the market. In addition, 56,000 devices with multiple users were barred from playing, and 34,000 were using illicit software that hid the players’ actual location. Lastly, GeoComply was able to identify and block 1,500 jailbroken devices.
Danny DiRienzo, GeoComply’s director of risk services, has addressed the issue of online fraud, stating that it is a serious problem that continues to get worse. He noted that the recorded fraud attempts mostly included identity theft, bonus abuse, and some instances of account takeovers and credit card chargebacks. DiRienzo has reassured players that GeoComply will continue to protect the Ontarian iGaming market from fraud with vigilance.