Industries Under Threat from Multi-Accounting: Prevention Strategies (Year 2024)
Multi-accounting fraud has emerged as a significant issue in various online sectors, with the extent of its prevalence varying across industries and platforms. This practice involves a single user registering multiple accounts on an online service for illicit purposes.
In the online gambling industry, data indicates that approximately 4.31% of the nearly 15 million active customer accounts are subject to some form of restriction, including multi-accounting and other control measures [1]. The e-commerce and travel sectors also face challenges with multi-accounting, often linked to fraud and abuse such as promo exploitation or loyalty program theft [3][4].
Methods of Multi-Accounting
There are several ways fraudsters perpetrate multi-accounting. One common method is the creation of fake accounts. Fraudsters generate multiple synthetic or fake profiles to exploit promotions, gaming advantages, or loyalty programs, particularly in the travel agencies where fake accounts are used for promo abuse and fake listings [4].
Another method is credential stuffing, where automated bots use stolen username-password pairs to gain access to multiple accounts across different platforms, enabling multiple account control [2]. Bot fraud, facilitated by automation tools, is also used to create and manage numerous accounts quickly, evade detection, scrape data, or launch attacks like credential stuffing in industries such as travel and e-commerce [4].
Phishing and account takeover are further methods used by attackers to obtain user credentials via scams or hacking to access existing accounts and control multiple accounts illegally [2][3][4]. Device fingerprinting evasion is another tactic employed by fraudsters to circumvent security measures, using multiple devices, IP addresses, or anonymizing tools to maintain several accounts without detection [4].
Countering Multi-Accounting
Industries combating multi-accounting often employ advanced analytics, machine learning, device fingerprinting, session profiling, and anomaly detection to identify and restrict suspicious multi-account behaviors [1][3][4]. For example, stake factor restrictions are common in gambling to limit bet sizes on suspicious or multi-accounts [1], while e-commerce companies increasingly invest in AI-driven fraud prevention to handle account takeover and multi-account fraud [3].
The Impact of Multi-Accounting
Multi-accounting can have severe consequences for both businesses and consumers. In the travel services industry, fraudsters can use multiple accounts to write fake reviews, make fake bookings, and pose as travel agents to swindle would-be travelers [5]. In the online dating industry, scammers often use multiple accounts to defraud users, with around 70K people in the US reporting a romance scam to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022, resulting in overall reported losses of USD 1.3 billion [6].
Peer-to-Peer services can also be exploited by fraudsters to swindle others by selling counterfeits or asking for 'prepayment' and disappearing with the money. A complex method used by professional gamblers is gnoming, where they create new accounts with personal data of close friends and family [7].
To prevent multi-accounting, businesses can implement robust identity verification measures, employ advanced anti-fraud solutions, and explicitly state in their Terms of Use that such practices are forbidden. Sumsub's Fraud Network Detection tool, for instance, can detect multi-accounting by analyzing user behavior, IP address, behavioral biometrics, and device fingerprinting [8].
In summary, multi-accounting is a significant fraud vector seen in gambling, e-commerce, and travel industries, frequently enabled by fake accounts, credential theft, bots, and phishing, with ongoing development of sophisticated detection and restriction methods to counteract it.
[1] Gambling Commission UK
[2] Deepfake Detection Market Report
[3] eMarketer
[4] Fraud.org
[5] Travel Weekly
[6] Federal Trade Commission
[7] Gnoming Explained
[8] Sumsub Blog
- In the realm of personal-finance, multi-accounting can lead to illicit activities such as promoting exploitation or loyalty program theft, mirroring instances observed in e-commerce and travel sectors.
- The practice of multi-accounting in finance, technology, and entertainment industries often involves credential stuffing, using stolen username-password pairs to gain unauthorized access to multiple accounts across platforms.
- In the contemporary business landscape, multi-accounting fraud is a growing concern that extends beyond shopping, impacting various sectors like general-news, cybersecurity, and crime-and-justice as well.
- In the spheres of data-and-cloud-computing and technology, bot fraud is employed to create and manage numerous accounts rapidly, evading detection, launching attacks, or scraping data.
- To combat multi-accounting Fraud in sports, enterprises often rely on advanced analytics, machine learning, and strict identity verification measures to ensure fair play and protect consumer interests.
- To prevent multi-accounting, industry giants leverage tools like Sumsub's Fraud Network Detection that analyzes user behavior, IP address, behavioral biometrics, and device fingerprinting to identify suspicious activities and reinforce security across platforms.
){kind=link}