The online gaming industry is ripe for fraud. They games deal with many, low-cost transactions that need to be approved in real time, so it does not ruin games for players. The almost real-time nature of these transactions makes it more difficult to catch fraudsters before it’s too late.
Fraudsters continue to get more sophisticated. They are always looking for new ways to hack games, steal players’ credentials, or creating bots to hijack games, and more times than not, they are finding weaknesses and seizing on them.
Most recently, cybercriminals have been focusing their efforts on hacking games on Facebook and other popular online games, like Fortnite. In addition to the large volume of small transactions generated by these games, they find them appealing because many of the users are younger and use the most basic credentials and passwords to play, making their accounts easier to infiltrate.
Merchants that want to protect their businesses, online gaming merchant accounts, and their customers must take steps to fight fraud and identify it sooner. Tackling the problem requires collaborative approach.
What to Do About Online Gaming Fraud
To continue to attract gamers and impede fraudsters, merchants must use collaborative solutions that incorporate transaction and player data to prevent fraud. With the help of this data and holistic approach, you will be able to identify fraudsters and their patterns, so that you can prevent them in the future. Employing this type of approach will allow you to more quickly notice changes in buying and playing behaviors and, then, crack down on those that are sharing IDs, credit card numbers, and IP addresses.
Merchants also need to continue to use others types of tools, such as fraud filters, PCI-compliant payment gateways, and two-step authentication processes to cut down on fraudulent purchases. Though the industry is known for failing to use screening features, such as CVV matching, it is an important, simple step that allows merchants collect addresses and CVV numbers to cut down on identity theft. Also, requiring players to use longer passwords – ones that are 12 to 16 characters long – will make it more difficult for criminals to hack them.
Don’t Forget About Friendly Fraud
Cracking down on friendly fraud also must be a priority. Friendly fraud is when a cardholder receives a good or service but disputes the charge because the person does not want to pay for it. Some who have studied the industry say a single shopper will repeat friendly fraud up to three times before a merchant notices and takes action against the person. Online gaming businesses that creates databases of these type of offenders and their gaming and other behaviors and then, shares them with fellow businesses can help filter out a large number of friendly fraud incidents together.
Final Thoughts
As the online gaming industry continues to attract gamers and cyber criminals, merchants will have to their due diligence to provide a protected, quality online gaming experience, as well keep fraudsters at bay. It’s a balancing act, but one that proves worthwhile.
If you need an online gaming merchant account, contact high-risk merchant account provider, eMerchantBroker.com (EMB). It not only works with merchants of all backgrounds, chargeback histories, and processing histories, it offers fraud filters and chargeback mitigation tools that can prevent one in four chargebacks. Apply online today using EMB’s simple, streamlined application. Eligible applicants get approved in as little as a couple of days.