Bonus fraud is a significant issue in the iGaming industry. Despite their best efforts to combat it, this type of fraud is estimated to cost operators around 15 per cent of their annual gross revenue.
And bonus abuse, specifically, represents one of the most common forms of fraud in the casino sector, making up over 69 per cent of all fraud cases.
But operators no longer need to face this challenge alone.
Solutions like Greco’s–the leading expert on bonus abuse, multi-accounting, risk segmentation and bonus engine development–are designed to tackle these increasingly sophisticated fraudulent activities.
Today, Greco’s Co-Founder, Ozric Vondervelden, who has spent more than a decade to fighting bonus fraud, joins iGF to share is exclusive insights into the current fraud landscape, emerging trends in abuse tactics, and the importance of looking beyond simple win/loss metrics for operators who want to stay ahead.
In conversation with our Head of Content Curtis Roach, this is an iGF Q&A special you don’t want to miss.
Does the industry accurately understand the real levels of bonus abuse? Can you shed light on the scale of the problem?
“I don’t think the industry has a solid grasp of the metrics required to identify or understand bonus abuse properly.
“There’s a misunderstanding that winning players are cheating because they are beating the house and taking value from the operators. But in reality, bonus fraud comes in many forms and is a numbers game.
“Most abusers don’t operate as isolated individuals. They work with multiple accounts or as part of syndicates. They focus on averages across groups of accounts, looking at the expected profit from an entire cohort rather than any single player.
“If operators focus solely on identifying individual winners, they miss out on spotting the broader patterns, including the losing accounts that are part of the same abuse scheme.
“Bonus abusers aren’t typical players. They optimise play by controlling RTP, volatility, and stake size. Often operating in groups, they rotate wins to avoid suspicion. For example, in a group of five, only one player wins at a time, covering the other four’s losses. While casinos focus on the winning player, the others continue playing as a team, gradually profiting without detection.
“What we do is look at the behaviour. Are players optimising their bets perfectly to match the promotion? Are they adjusting stake sizes, RTP preferences and volatility levels with surgical precision?
“It’s complicated to quantify the scale of abuse, and we don’t have a reasonable, long-term sample size to discuss. We tend to see a lot of abuse at sites when we start working with them, but as our prevention policies kick in, it snowballs and many fraudsters stop targeting that operator.
“Our analysis from different countries suggests that in the U.S., an individual player can make around US$18,000 from bonuses. In the U.K., it’s between £2,000–£3,000.
“Fraud syndicates often consist of hundreds of thousands of members, and one identity usually represents multiple fake accounts.
“We can say that bonus abuse costs the industry billions annually. It’s become an organised counter-industry with structured referral systems, recruitment drives, and even companies specialising in exploiting these vulnerabilities.”
How has bonus abuse behaviour changed recently? What trends should operators be aware of?
“We’re seeing some really interesting trends.
“Brazil has banned bonuses, which means we’re seeing a massive outflux of fraud to neighbouring countries, like Peru, Argentina and Colombia, as well as to less regulated sites, like crypto casinos.
“Bonuses are also being offered at crypto gambling sites. Previously, these sites, like Stake.com, retrospectively rewarded players for spending. But now they are moving towards deposit bonuses to boost acquisition.
However, these operators are exposed to more risks, as crypto payments are more challenging to track. They also tend to use licensing jurisdictions with lower verification requirements, making them vulnerable to bonus fraud.
We’re also seeing considerable growth in the bonus abuse community and the level of sophistication in Turkey.
Lastly, sweepstakes have also become a target. Some offer bonuses to players who send them post, so envelope-stuffing operations have become commonplace – whole warehouse-sized operations, procuring free entries to sweepstake competitions.
Is it possible to reduce bonus abuse without negatively impacting the customer experience?
“It is absolutely possible, but it requires a shift. Traditional fraud-fighting efforts use IP tracking, Cookie analysis and Browser fingerprinting. While these tools remain helpful, the industry needs to move towards real-time analysis.
“This has been a blind spot in the industry, with operators left to identify risks. With staff turnover and knowledge gaps, many operators are left vulnerable.
“The solution to managing these risks is real-time gameplay analysis on top of those existing tools such as fraud and verification tools, giving you visibility across the entire player journey and lifecycle.
“With real-time analysis, operators can employ preventative measures. Pop-ups that warn players are very effective because the last thing a fraudster wants is their deposit confiscated, especially if they are working in a team, as that affects the entire chain.”
What’s next for Greco in 2025?
“Now that we’ve mastered the behavioural aspect of understanding abuse, we’re approaching it from the mathematical side.
“Our goal is to understand each player’s actual value. Operators currently see value as the amount a player has won or lost. We’re trying to understand it based on what they should have won or lost, according to probability.
“If you look at their value based on probability instead of outcome, you can understand their motives and whether they represent a long-term negative value or not.
“This approach offers a comprehensive view of the player lifecycle, allowing operators to manage and treat players more effectively.
Editor’s Note:
The shadowy and organised world of bonus fraud is thriving, costing operators billions annually in lost revenue.
Despite its growing prevalence (with some reporting a 64 percent year-on-year increase between 2022 and 2024), bonus fraud is a topic that’s often under-discussed, and under-detected.
Under this blanket of secrecy, it’s become an “organised counter-industry”, complete with referral systems, recruitment drives and companies dedicated to exploiting vulnerabilities.
Yet, despite the massive scale of the problem, Ozric and Greco have demonstrated that operators can fight back without disrupting the customer experience. But this requires a shift in mindset: It’s important to understand the problem and implement proactive, real-time interventions.
Ozric advocates: “[The solution] to managing these risks is real-time gameplay analysis on top of existing tools such as fraud and verification tools.”
According to Ozric, this gives visibility across the player journey and allows operators to intervene effectively.
