BEWARE: Gambling site users greatest target for online digital fraudsters
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- The use of gambling sites and online casinos has increased greatly in the past 18 months of the pandemic
- Fraud attempts in this gambling space have increased by 922% says TransUnion CEO Lee Naik
- Fraudsters gain access to personal information as well as credit card information
What impact has the pandemic and the increased movement of greater numbers of people to manage their personal lives online had on digital fraud?
He says overall in Quarter 2 globally, digital fraud attempts increased by 16.5% but in South Africa, it decreased by 12.3%.
What we have seen over the last 18 months, as consumers have gone online from the lockdown in their homes, is the financial services, retail, and telco sectors have decreased in comparison to other new sectors.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
Where has the online activity moved to?
We have seen a massive increase in the online gambling space.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
Fraud attempts increased by 922% in the online casino and gambling space, he says.
This was followed by large increases in attempts in online social community platforms such as Facebook and thirdly, fake travel and leisure opportunities increased by almost 265%.
How does the fraud manifest in the gambling space? He says there are a few methods in play. Key points identified in defining fraud are the use of personal information and credit card information, he explains.
So in most cases, what fraudsters would do is they would get multiple fake accounts created using your identity which is now stolen from yourself or bought from the dark web underground-type databases used to create accounts in your name.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
He says many online casinos run campaigns offering discounts when users sign up.
Some of these fraudsters tap into these free discounts to get your information, and in cases where you have loaded up a win, they take the money from your account.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
A second way of conducting scams on online casinos is whereby the perpetrators not only 'buy' users' personal information but also take their credit card information.
What some casinos allow you to do is load up your casino wallet using your credit card, and then these fraudsters will try and do a refund back into their own account.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
He says the fraud has become increasingly sophisticated.
To make it real for you, the top three casino sites in South Africa have 1 million unique users per month in the middle of a pandemic.
Lee Naik, CEO - TransUnion
Users on social media community platforms are lulled into a sense of security he agrees and encourages education to understand the dangers of posting personal information like email addresses and contact numbers, as well as photographs online.
This information does sometimes end up in the wrong hands.
