I discuss fraud in online gaming in an interview with PYMNTS, the leading online resource for the online payments and commerce industry. With the recent revelation that fraudulent activity was the source of “nearly all” trades in a digital marketplace for the popular video game Counter Strike, this issue has rightfully been gaining more attention.
It is not surprising that gaming platforms have become hotbeds for fraud. Security architecture is typically a secondary focus, at best, in game design, and they present myriad opportunities for bad actors to find and exploit weaknesses while remaining anonymous. Earlier this year, a report uncovered money laundering in the massively popular game Fortnite. Account takeovers are another common form of fraud in online gaming.
Giving such fraudsters the boot from online gaming will require a proactive approach. Gaming platforms need to adopt the same safeguards used in online banking and ecommerce, such as out of band step-up authentication on the front end and AI detection tools on the back end. If those protections are coupled with increased cybersecurity awareness among users, they will be a large step forward making gaming platforms less shadowy and more secure.
It was a pleasure to speak with PYMNTS. From its founding in 2009 the site has long been an invaluable B2B resource for up-to-the-minute news and insight on the latest trends in online payments and commerce. It’s a FinTech must-read.