The US gambling industry has a fraud issue, asserts new report

The US gambling industry is one of the fastest-growing in terms of consumer spending. However, it has seen the greatest increase in digital fraud attempts in the past year. These are the findings of TransUnion's Global Digital Fraud Trends Report, which examines the impact of eCommerce on things such as shipping fraud.

The report surveyed a range of industries, including telecoms, financial services, insurance and travel and leisure. Gambling was the most popular industry in terms of the year-on-year increase in digital fraud attempts.

According to the report, identity fraud is the most common type of fraud. This involves illegally using someone else's identity in order to commit fraud transactions. The report claims that digital fraud rates have increased because of the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sean Donnelly, SVP, Global Fraud Solutions at TransUnion, commented that fraud continues to affect a variety of business sectors and that fraudsters are always on the lookout for the next opportunity.

He added, "However, there are some industries that continue to have a target on their backs - such as financial services or travel and leisure - that should preemptively employ fraud detection solutions and strategies to better serve customers and protect their bottom line."

The US saw a 60% increase in digital fraud attempts against gambling compared to the previous year. Travel and leisure experienced a 58% increase, while telecoms saw a 30% increase. Financial services also recorded 27%, while insurance fraud attempts increased by 11%.

A similar study in Europe on identity fraud revealed that as high as 10% of European consumers were victims of the crime within the last 12 months.

GBG discovered that 18% of people aged 18-24 had been scammed. One-third of businesses did not use anti-fraud technology to protect their customers.

Fraud is a big issue in the gambling space, but so is match-fixing. A recent report by Sportradar showed that there were 903 suspicious activity reports last year, the highest it has recorded in its 17-year history.

Over half of those were tied to soccer. Esports followed next, with one in 384 matches flagged for potentially suspicious activity. Basketball had 498 flags.

Sportradar estimates that match-fixing produced up to $180 million in profit for those involved. It expects things to get worse this year and says corruptors are getting more brazen with their attempts.

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